UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM
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DOCUMENTS
INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE:
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Industry and Market Data
Unless otherwise indicated, information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K concerning our industry and the markets in which we operate, including our general expectations and market opportunity and market size, is based on information from various sources, including independent industry publications. In presenting this information, we have also made assumptions based on such data and other similar sources, and on our knowledge of, and our experience to date in the relevant industries and markets. This information involves a number of assumptions and limitations, and you are cautioned not to give undue weight to such estimates. We believe that the information from these industry publications that is included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K is reliable. The industry in which we operate is subject to a high degree of uncertainty and risk due to a variety of factors, including those described in “Risk Factors.” These and other factors could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in the estimates made by the independent parties and by us.
PART I
SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements (within the meaning of the federal securities law) that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K regarding our strategy, future operations, future financial position, future net sales, gross margin expectations, projected costs, projected expenses, prospects and plans and objectives of management are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “projects,” “will,” “would,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events. Although we believe that the expectations underlying any of our forward-looking statements are reasonable, these expectations may prove to be incorrect, and all of these statements are subject to risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions, projections, or expectations prove incorrect, our actual results, performance, or financial condition may vary materially and adversely from those anticipated, estimated, or expected. We have included important factors in the cautionary statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, particularly in the section entitled “Risk Factors,” that we believe could cause actual results or events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements that we make. Our forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential impact of any future acquisitions, mergers, dispositions, joint ventures, investments or terminations of distribution arrangements that we may make. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.
Unless the context requires otherwise, references to “Reliance Global Group,” the “Company,” “we,” “our,” and “us” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K refer to Reliance Global Group, Inc.
Item 1. BUSINESS
About Reliance Global Group, Inc.
Reliance Global Group, Inc. (formerly known as Ethos Media Network, Inc.) was incorporated in Florida on August 2, 2013. In September 2018, Reliance Global Holdings, LLC, a related party (“Reliance Holdings”), purchased a controlling interest in the Company. Ethos Media Network, Inc. was renamed Reliance Global Group, Inc. on October 18, 2018.
We operate as a company managing assets in the insurance markets, as well as other related sectors. Our focus is to grow the Company by pursuing an aggressive acquisition strategy, initially and primarily focused upon wholesale and retail insurance agencies. We are led and advised by a management team that offers over 100 years of combined business expertise in insurance, real estate and the financial service industry.
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In the insurance sector, our management has extensive experience acquiring and managing insurance portfolios in several states, as well as developing specialized programs targeting niche markets. Our primary strategy is to identify specific risk to reward arbitrage opportunities and develop these on a national platform, thereby increasing revenues and returns, and then identify and acquire undervalued wholesale and retail insurance agencies with operations in growing or underserved segments, expand and optimize their operations, and achieve asset value appreciation while generating interim cash flows.
As part of our growth and acquisition strategy, we remain active in M&A markets and anticipate completing insurance agency/brokerage transactions throughout the course of 2024 and beyond. As of December 31, 2023, we have acquired nine insurance agencies. During 2022, the Company acquired Barra & Associates, LLC., an unaffiliated full-service insurance agency, which we rebranded to RELI Exchange and expanded its footprint nationally.
The Company also developed and launched 5MinuteInsure.com (“5MI”), a proprietary direct to consumer InsurTech platform which went live during the summer of 2021. 5MI is a business to consumer website which enables consumers to compare and purchase car and home insurance in a time efficient and effective manner. The platform is currently live in 44 states and offers coverage with more than thirty carriers.
Over the next 12 months, we plan to expand and grow our footprint and market share both through organic growth, and by expansion through additional acquisitions in various insurance markets.
Our competitive advantage includes the ability to:
| ● | Scale to compete at a national level. | |
| ● | Capitalize on the consumer shift to ‘online’ with the personal touch of an agent, as the only InsurTech company with this combination. | |
| ● | Leverage proprietary agency software & automation to compare carrier prices, for competitive renewal pricing. | |
| ● | Employ an empowered and scalable insurance agency model. | |
| ● | Leverage technology that facilitates comparing carriers for the best prices. |
The RELI Exchange Business to Business (“B2B”) InsurTech platform and partner network for insurance agents and agencies also:
| ● | Boast being the only white label insurance brokerage agency – New agents can have a multimillion-dollar agency look on day one, with a full suite of back-office support (business resources, licensing, compliance, etc.). | |
| ● | Combines the low barriers to entry of an agency network, with state-of-the-art tech. | |
| ● | Builds on the artificial intelligence and data mining backbone of 5MinuteInsure.com | |
| ● | Is designed to provide instant and competitive insurance quotes from more than thirty insurance carriers nationwide. | |
| ● | Reduces back-office burden and expenses by reducing the need for paperwork and redundant tasks. | |
| ● | Provides agents more time to focus on revenue driving activities, such as selling policies. |
In addition, we have a vast mentorship program behind the scenes, to upskill our sales teams. Once people are registered, we enroll them in our mentorship program, and coach them to bring new business.
RELI Exchange is a complete, private label system where agents have more flexibility in how they choose to brand themselves, compared to competitor platforms that require agents to work under the platform’s brand name. In effect, agents have a greater sense of ownership on our platform, and the feeling that comes with a well-financed agency.
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Insurance Market Overview
There are three main insurance sectors: (1) property/casualty (P/C), which consists mainly of auto, home, and commercial insurance; (2) life/health (L/H), which consists mainly of life insurance and annuity products; and (3) accident and health, which is normally written by insurers whose main business is health insurance. The insurance industry plays a huge role in the U.S. economy (Source: OECD Insurance Statistics).
The U.S. remained the world’s largest insurance market, with a 40% market share of global direct premiums written in 2023, with premiums of $2.8 trillion, and Swiss Re forecasts that premiums will grow by an average 9% per annum over the next decade, stronger than the 7.5% annual average of 2015–2023 (Source: beinsure, Top Ranking the World’s Largest Insurance Markets 2024).
Insurance Agency Industry Overview
Insurance agencies act as intermediaries between insurance carriers and consumers. Unlike carriers, agencies do not bear insurance risk. The market has grown steadily including a sharp increase in 2019 due to macroeconomic growth, beneficial legislation, COVID treatments, and positive trends within the insurance sector. While inflation and other factors have impacted the industry, it has continued to grow through 2021. The market flattened in 2022 (12.15% of US GDP in 2022 vs. 12.20% in 2021), with a positive outlook due to the increased use of AI. Results may be impacted by changes to federal interest rates, with the federal funds rate skyrocketing from about 0% in early 2022 to 5.33% in February 2024, the highest rate in over 20 years (Source: St. Louis Federal Reserve, Federal Funds Effective Rate).
An insurance agency or broker solicits, writes, and binds policies through many different insurance companies, as they are not directly employed by any insurance carrier. Thus, insurance agencies can decide which insurance carriers they would like to represent and which products they would like to sell. They are like a retail shop that sells insurance services and products created by the insurance carrier. The main difference between a broker and an agent has to do with who they represent. An agent represents one or more insurance companies, acting as an extension of the insurer. A broker represents the insurance buyer.
An insurance carrier, on the other hand, is a manufacturer of insurance services and products that the insurance agencies sell. They control the underwriting process, claims process, pricing, and the overall management of the insurance products. Insurance carriers do not sell their products through direct agents, but only through independent agencies. Insurance policies are created and administered by the insurance carrier.
A key operating difference between agencies and carriers is the risk profile. The potential financial risks to the insurance industry caused by unforeseen events such as natural disasters are the responsibility of the carriers (and their re-insurers). Agencies and brokers bear no insurance risk. Furthermore, increased damage caused by natural disasters generally boosts demand for insurance and results in possible premium increases. Since insurance brokers and agents are a central part of the distribution of these products, they normally benefit from this increase in demand and premiums despite damaged profit margins among these upstream underwriters and carriers. (Source: IBISWorld Insurance Brokers & Agencies Industry in the US, January 2023). Natural disasters are inherently difficult to forecast, but any increase in the frequency of these events has the potential to boost insurance policy volumes, particularly for property and casualty products.
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This risk difference is key, especially considering volatile weather patterns and an increased rate of natural disasters. The economic costs of 2023’s natural disaster events was $380 billion, up from $313 billion in 2022 (Source: Statista, Cost of natural disaster losses worldwide from 2000 to 2023, by type of loss). Insurance only covered 42% of the total damages from 421 natural disaster events in 2022 (Source: AON, Testimony of Eric Anderson, President of Aon, before the United States Senate Committee on Budget, Wednesday, March 22, 2023).
Key external drivers for insurance industry performance include factors such as motor vehicle registrations, the homeowner rate, and per capita disposable income. The industry is in a hardening cycle, which leads to growth. There are still effects from the COVID-19 measures, with shifting sales trends expected to boost profitability while lowering marginal costs. Additionally, businesses rebounding from COVID-19 are reported to translate to a consistent stream of new insurance customers (Source: IBISWorld, Insurance Brokers & Agencies Industry in the US, January 2023).
In 2023, the global insurance brokerage & agency market had an estimated value of $436 billion, and is forecasted to grow 7.2% to $468 billion in 2024 and to $613 billion by 2028 (Source: Research and Markets, Insurance Brokers & Agents Global Market Report 2024). The insurance distribution industry continues to prove its resiliency and the growth is reflected in continued robust mergers and acquisition (M&A) activity within the sector, despite decreases as compared to recent prior years. Total deal volume in 2023 was $78 billion, 41% lower than in 2022, with a 15% drop in total deals to 1,062 M&A deals in 2023. That said, there were 22 mega-deals of over $1 billion in 2023, a 38% increase over 2022 (Source: GlobalData, Insurance M&A Deals 2023 – Top Themes – Thematic Intelligence). The drop in deal volume was due to a 40-year high in inflation, rising capital costs and tightening budgets. As rate increases have already peaked, companies may allocate more capital to acquisitions. In 2024, there is an expected influx of private equity money into insurance M&A. (Source: Deloitte, 2024 insurance M&A outlook: Climbing the leaderboard).
The global InsurTech market size was valued at $16.6 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow to $336.5 billion by 2032, including the highest CAGR of 41.0% between 2023 and 2032 (Market.us, Global Insurtech Market By Type (Auto, Business, Health, and Other Types), By Deployment (On-Premise, and Cloud Based), By Technology, By Services, By End-User, By Region and Companies - Industry Segment Outlook, Market Assessment, Competition Scenario, Trends, and Forecast 2023-2032). The increasing need for digitization of insurance services is expected to propel the market growth. Insurtech is the usage of technology innovations particularly designed to make the existing insurance model more efficient. By using technologies such as AI and data analytics, InsurTech solutions allow products to be priced more competitively. Insurance companies are widely adopting these solutions to drive cheaper, better, and faster operational results. Hence, the insurance industry is witnessing increased investment in technology. The outbreak of COVID-19 had a positive impact on the market. Numerous insurance companies are reconsidering their long-term strategies and short-term needs. COVID-19 and its impacts have accelerated the implementation of online platforms and new mobile applications to meet consumer needs. (Sources: Grand View Research, Insurtech Market Size, Share & Growth Report, 2021-2028 and 2022 - 2030).
The Company therefore has strategically invested in its RELI Exchange and 5MinuteInsure.com online digital platforms as additional steps in expanding its national footprint which now also includes a client referral portal. As discussed above, RELI Exchange and 5MI are high-tech proprietary tools developed by the Company as business to business or business to consumer portals which enables agents/consumers to compare and purchase car home and life insurance in a time efficient and effective manner. These platforms tap into the growing number of online users and utilize advanced artificial intelligence and data mining techniques, to provide competitive insurance quotes in around 1-5 minutes, with minimal data input needed from the agent/consumer.
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General Industry Outlook
Insurance brokers and agencies play a critical role within the insurance market by distributing policies and consulting insurance underwriters and consumers. This industry is a vital component to the larger insurance sector as industry operators act as intermediaries between insurance providers and downstream consumers. Operators generate income via commissions earned on policies sold. Given the transaction-based nature of the industry, revenue primarily depends on three factors: (1) policy (premium) pricing; (2) demand for insurance; and (3) the popularity of using agents and brokers in the distribution process.
As mentioned, the insurance broker and agency industry has grown steadily over the five years due to macroeconomic growth, beneficial legislation that has been passed, and positive trends in the insurance sector, achieving approximately $436 billion in revenues in 2023. As macroeconomic conditions improve over the next few years, revenue generated by industry operators is expected to increase to $613 billion in 2028 as businesses regain confidence in their financial stability, despite increased external competition from online insurance marketplace platforms.
Insurance carriers should not continue to depend on the positive (though uncertain) fundamental economic strength of years past to maintain positive balance sheet momentum. To succeed, carriers must address foundational challenges, which include remaining relevant despite systemic economic changes combined with expanding consumer preferences. Some of the issues that insurers must address will fall within the areas of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), technology, product development, talent, regulation, as well as tax reform, as described below.
| ● | M&A. The convergence of market pressures to attain sustainable growth, a persistent wealth of capital and capacity, combined with the upturn in interest rates may demonstrate that insurers should be prepared for an uptick in M&A activity in 2024. As it stands now, fairly rich valuations could dampen activity, however, M&A could offer opportunities to scale and obtain new capabilities, primarily as it relates to technology. | |
| ● | Proprietary Technology. Advancements in AI, mobile and digital technology are forcing insurers to innovate, which is expected to continue and intensify, where every insurance agency will need to focus on what makes their customer experiences and products unique. They will also need to integrate with technology enablers to bring to their customers a value proposition via a connected ecosystem. Furthermore, to better compete within the industry, those within the distribution system would benefit tremendously by improving the ability to share critical data and analytics between systems. Insurers are seeking to employ the cloud to power advanced analytics, improve data gathering, and grow cognitive applications. To keep pace with the industry and prepare for a cloud-enabled future, insurance carriers should prioritize migrating their existing systems to the cloud and launch new applications off-site. | |
| ● | Product Development. Economic and technological changes create the need for new types of coverage, revamped policies, and alternative distribution platforms; adaptation of this, however, has been slow within the insurance industry. Siloed business lines, legacy processes, and regulatory considerations hinder the rapid and agile product development needed within this highly competitive landscape. Accordingly, insurers would benefit by focusing on creating hybrid policies that cover both commercial and personal risks. They could also supply on-demand coverage options, which provide greater control to customers for their policy terms and time frames. Furthermore, novel and unique micro-experiences could become the foundation for digital expansion as agencies are distinguished by the niche markets they sell to and can better service versus their peers. Digital content campaigns and user interfaces targeting specialized prospects and customer segments are expected to continue to expand. These micro-experiences could allow agencies to have access to a market that can quote, bind, and service insurance online, and where they are focused on commercial lines and specialty insurance for niche markets. In such a scenario, they may be able to offer new opportunities for agencies to expand quickly via digital building blocks that can be easily integrated into existing business and/or workflows. |
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| ● | Regulation. Regulation will continue to play a significant role in the operations and development of the insurance industry, with three high-priority compliance issues (each with global and domestic implications) facing insurers: |
| ○ | Market conduct. “Best interest” standards have been implemented and more are being considered at both the federal and state levels to protect consumers who purchase annuities and life insurance. In 2020, the NAIC required producers to put the consumer’s interests ahead of their own. Currently, the NAIC’s Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation (#275) has been adopted by 41 states. It aims to protect consumers from potentially abusive and predatory practices among life insurance and annuity producers (Source: NAIC, The NAIC Annuity Suitability “Best Interest” Model Regulation). Additionally, similar standards were adopted in New York (Source: Debevoise & Plimpton, New York’s “Best Interest” Rule for Life and Annuities Found Constitutional). Due to these standards, insurers should seek to review and adjust their compliance structures to accommodate what could turn into a patchwork oversight system. One possibility could be to integrate new technologies that would allow for continual oversight and management of the sales process. | |
| ○ | Cyber risk. With New York State’s latest cybersecurity regulations, insurers are facing compliance deadlines, which have formed the basis of a nationwide model law developed by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Going forward, the spotlight is likely to be on how insurers plan to manage third-party risks, given so much importance has been placed on migrating policyholder data and software systems to external hosts. | |
| ○ | Privacy oversight. Privacy is both a data-security and reputational risk issue given the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) having been implemented along with similar standards set to be imposed in California. Equally as important is how data can be used moving forward, specifically when it comes to disclosure and consumer signoff. In addition to legal and IT experts, insurers should include multiple stakeholders in its compliance efforts. Over the longer term, carriers may reexamine how the vast amounts of alternative data at their disposal may be leveraged for the mutual benefit not only for the carriers but their policyholders, while simultaneously remaining compliant with domestic and global regulations. |
| ● | Taxes. The global trend has been to lower corporate income tax rates, with a recent report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development citing significant tax reform packages enacted in Argentina, France, Latvia, and the U.S., with other countries introducing more disjointed reforms. U.S. insurers continue to focus on adapting to the changes introduced in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have issued final and proposed guidance on certain important, newly enacted provisions, such as the application of the base erosion and anti-abuse tax to reinsurance, as well as the taxation of foreign operations owned by U.S. taxpayers. Additional guidance could be imminent on many other important provisions, including how the new loss carryover rules will fit with the old rules in the context of consolidated returns. |
Further complexity may come from several areas in 2024, including (Source: Accenture, 5 predictions for the insurance industry in 2024):
| ● | Monetizing AI, including generative AI such as ChatGPT. | |
| ● | Alternative human capital strategies which include the use of generative AI acting as “supplementary talent.” | |
| ● | Cost pressures driving operational model change including allocation methodologies and centralized costs. | |
| ● | Risk portfolio shifts and capital reallocation, including shifts into the retirement space as Millennials and GenZ become beneficiaries. | |
| ● | Service revenue increases alongside risk capital decreases, to raise RoE, and to expand product offerings in advice and services including tele-health, care navigation, and risk mitigation. |
While the industry may need to address internal and external pressures, the impact from these issues will continue to fall within the individual insurer. Thus, since insurers have choice in their decision making process, potentially the most significant factor is likely to be how committed and prepared insurers are to quickly adjust to changes in the economy, society, and technology, and respond accordingly.
Insurance Options
Single-product platforms limit buyers’ choices and often lead to high costs or insufficient coverage. We’ve partnered with an extensive list of carriers and filter results for buyers according to their needs. This gets them the right coverage at a fair price. From there, they’re connected to an agent who onboards them with minimal friction.
Insurance Buyers
Insurance buyers want coverage that fits their needs at a fair price. They also want good customer service. We believe the independent insurance agents, combined with the RELI Exchange platform can serve these needs best. Our platform makes it easy to weigh the options and connect with a knowledgeable agent with the buyer’s interests in mind.
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Expert Agents
We train our agents to evaluate coverages based on buyers’ needs, and to explain options in simple terms. Furthermore, service doesn’t stop there. People’s needs change during different life events, and we facilitate adjustments to their coverage when it matters most.
Agents can revolutionize their insurance businesses—or start a new one on RELI Exchange. They have the freedom to offer coverage from a variety of carriers, utilizing our cutting-edge technology, and proven sales system. This is particularly beneficial to captive insurance agents who previously found themselves limited to one carrier and pricing model. By offering more choices, agents now have more chances of closing business with interested buyers. By partnering with us, agents gain access to a variety of carriers, yet are able to streamline their workflows to focus on business development with support from our team and lower marketing costs.
Top Carriers
Insurance carriers want to maximize profits without detracting from the customer experience. The challenge is that it’s costly to distribute coverage through independent agents with varying levels of expertise. Some carriers choose the Captive Agent route to save on cost, but RELI Exchange offers a better alternative. We reduce overhead and scale distribution for carriers while maintaining good standards with our technology and back office support team.
The performance improvements and lower costs lead to higher customer retention and a better customer experience, which translates to a higher customer lifetime value and more profits for the carrier and the agent.
Leadership Team
Our leadership team has over 100 years of combined industry experience.
Ezra Beyman, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, brings nearly three decades of entrepreneurial experience in real estate and fifteen years in insurance. His portfolio of commercial and residential properties at one point consisted of more than 40,000 residential units, as well as several insurance companies. In 1985, he founded his first mortgage brokerage, which rapidly grew into the third largest licensed mortgage brokerage in the United States of America by 2008. He also expanded to real estate acquisition, having grown his portfolio to over three billion dollars.
Scott Korman, Director, serves as President of Nashone, Inc., a private equity firm, which he founded in 1984. In this role, Mr. Korman is involved in financial advisory, M&A, and general management assignments. He is a founder and Managing Member and CEO of Illumina Radiopharmaceuticals LLC, CEO of Red Mountain Medical Holdings, Inc. Mr. Korman previously served as Chairman of Da-Tech Corporation, a Pennsylvania based contract electronics manufacturer and as Chairman and CEO of Best Manufacturing Group LLC, a leading manufacturer and distributor of uniforms, napery, service apparel, and hospitality and healthcare textiles. Mr. Korman also served as President and CEO of Welsh Farms Inc., a full-service dairy processor and distributor of milk, ice cream mix and ice cream products.
Ben Fruchtzweig, Director, brings decades of executive experience in accounting and financial services. He has served as Chief Comptroller/Financial Analyst at national financial services and investment companies. He received his NYS C.P.A. license in 1987 and has worked at Deloitte Haskins and Sells and other leading accounting firms. Currently, Mr. Fruchtzweig lectures on a variety of topics including business ethics. He also serves on a voluntary basis as a trustee of a non-profit private foundation, which serves to provide the needed financial support, services and guidance to qualifying individuals and families.
Sheldon Brickman, Director, brings over 25 years of M&A advisory and business development experience with more than $40 billion in deals value. He has worked for numerous multibillion-dollar insurance carriers, including assignments for such companies as AIG, Aetna and National General. Sheldon has assisted international companies (UAE, UK, Asia and Latin America), start-up operations, and regional insurance carriers. Mr. Brickman’s experience covers the property casualty and life/health markets, including working with insurance carriers, managing general agencies, wholesalers, retailers and third-party administrators.
Alex Blumenfrucht, Director, previously served as CFO of Reliance, and prior to that, served as an Audit & Assurance Professional at Deloitte & Touche, LLP where he successfully led audit teams on both public and privately held corporations. He brings extensive experience in internal controls, financial analysis and reporting for both private and publicly traded companies. Currently Alex serves as the CFO of a Private Equity backed company in the healthcare space. Additionally, he has served as a Board Member of an ESOP structured entity.
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Joel Markovits, CPA, Chief Financial Officer, Joel joined Reliance Global Group in June 2021, bringing over 12 years of financial and accounting experience in both the public and private sectors. Prior to joining Reliance Global Group, Joel was a senior manager at KPMG LLP from April 2015 through May 2021, where he led some of the larger and more complex audit engagements, including serving as lead audit senior manager on a global $16 billion (annual revenues) enterprise reporting on both US GAAP and IFRS standards. He was also a data & analytics specialist and technology innovation leader at KPMG for its largest US Business Unit, overseeing the development and deployment of technological capabilities that enhance data analyses. Joel has been a Certified Public Accountant in the State of New Jersey since November 2013.
Yaakov Beyman - Executive Vice President, Insurance Division, oversees the overall insurance operations of Reliance, including strategy and developing/implementing operational tools. He holds insurance licenses in most of the continental United States, and is involved heavily in marketing, maintaining state of the art technological models, financial management and distributions, and entity creation and maintenance.
Grant Barra - Senior Vice President of Operations, Mr. Barra brings extensive insurance experience scaling businesses by employing innovative tactics to increase revenue and overall profitability. He founded Barra & Associates in 2008 and served as its CEO until it was acquired by Reliance in 2022 and subsequently rebranded as RELI Exchange. Concurrent with the acquisition, Mr. Barra was appointed as Reliance’s senior vice president of operations, where he’s responsible to oversee operations, innovation, and growth, amongst other senior responsibilities.
Moshe Fishman, Director of Insurtech and Operations, brings a unique perspective to the insurance sales process. Prior to starting his own insurance agency, Mr. Fishman was a recognized guru in the travel industry leveraging the technology in the travel sector. This tech savviness has been applied into the insurance and financial services industries with the founding of Fishman Insurance Agency as well as Tekeno Financial. Mr. Fishman is one of the driving talents of the RELI Exchange & 5MinuteInsure.com InsurTech platforms.
Agency Partner network and proprietary InsurTech platform at ReliExchange.com
Our Go-to-Market Strategy
Our Go-to-Market high level goals include:
| ● | Brand awareness |
| ● | Targeted Market Segmentation and Positioning |
| ● | Content Marketing and Thought Leadership |
| ● | Best in class recruitment team |
Target #1: Captive
| ● | When an agent represents one insurance company, they have limited offerings for clients, assuming the same activity they’ll close more business, earning multiples of what they make currently due to our partnerships with many of the largest carriers in the industry. |
| ● | Key target for Agency Partners |
| ● | Eliminate many of the biggest expenses running an independent agency as an Agency Partner with RELI Exchange. |
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Target #2: Agency Producers/CSRs
| ● | Agents that want their own agency. |
Target #3: New Agency Startups
| ● | Our platform makes it easy for those with little to no experience that want to start their own agency business. This is a significant market with manty potential participants. |
Promotion
To meet our agency registration objectives, we have engaged in both inbound and outbound marketing. Outbound sales and marketing includes outreach on social media through posts and direct messages using tools on LinkedIn and other platforms, phone, email, and other methods of communication. Inbound marketing is primarily through driving traffic to our website through search engines, social media, and digital publicity campaigns. These combined tactics give us a constant influx of marketing qualified leads (MQL) and sales qualified leads (SQL) to predictably hit our target metrics each month.
Email Marketing
As we continue to build our database of customers and prospects, we will implement an effective email marketing campaign. This includes newsletters as well as content flows that drip out over time to keep people engaged. This content is pre-programmed to automatically fire at set intervals whenever someone registers for a list. Through automation, we continue to build rapport with people who eventually sign up for the service.
Public Relations
The digital marketing tactics that we use have the following benefits:
| ● | Increase brand credibility | |
| ● | Generate leads | |
| ● | Attract investors and partners | |
| ● | Make other marketing more effective | |
| ● | Attract talent | |
| ● | Improve reputation on Google | |
| ● | Drive domain authority for SEO | |
| ● | Differentiate from competitors | |
| ● | Increase perceived value | |
| ● | Convert leads faster |
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Social Media
As part of our content creation process, we’ve implemented a system for ongoing posts to social media channels such as LinkedIn. Tactics include:
| ● | Daily social listening – eye-on competitor + industry news + influencer | |
| ● | Creative design and content planning | |
| ● | Daily posting schedule | |
| ● | Real-time events support and live posting | |
| ● | Daily monitoring comments and discussions | |
| ● | A content coordinator with approving capabilities to approve/direct. | |
| ● | Monitoring data, providing monthly reports | |
| ● | Weekly meetings with updates on new content, industry news approval etc.… | |
| ● | Daily outreach, engagement, and growth of LinkedIn profile. | |
| ● | Weekly: 2 posts that demonstrate expertise, experience and thought leadership. | |
| ● | Monthly: Strategic growth and visibility |
Using platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, we post regular content with the aim of growing our visibility and credibility through social media storytelling. Our goal is to maintain a consistent brand story for customers, prospects, stakeholders, and industry experts.
Planning, writing, creating, and posting a mixture of our available assets, plus curated topics on industry trends and influencer thought leadership to provide validation and exposure outside of our existing followers, to develop the company story.
Our initial focus is on LinkedIn, with expansion to other platforms as it makes sense.
Podcasts
We have appeared on several podcasts as subject matter experts, and will continue with outreach to increase exposure, visibility, brand awareness, and sales.
Website Search Engine Optimization
Our goal is to improve the website to drive more organic traffic through Google and other search engines. The two primary objectives are to create engaging content, and to improve the technical SEO of the website.
SEO growth opportunities include:
| ● | SEO Audit and Execution to improve HTML, structured data and other technical issues | |
| ● | SEO review of any future site migration and platform upgrade plans as part of the M&A process | |
| ● | Information architecture & internal linking for SEO | |
| ● | Content topic and structural improvements | |
| ● | Keyword Tracking | |
| ● | Competitive analysis |
Product
Our best-in-class product offerings include the following:
| 1) | An agency partner contract | |
| 2) | An agent / pro contract |
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Our value proposition is that we’re giving people a complete, white label business. Agents have a fast and easy website presence, get contracts with carriers they wouldn’t normally access, and they can get paid for referrals.
Price
Costs are very low. Access is approximately $90/month for agents, and $190/month for agency partners. This is a singular solution that gives people an all-in-one insurance agency.
For comparison, people used to pay about $50,000 to build out an insurance agency. Additionally, licensing can be around $750, with $100-200 in monthly expenditures. RELI Exchange removes these costly barriers to entry through technology.
With the RELI Exchange platform, our vision is to remove all barriers and activate contracted agents at scale. Being cost efficient for these agencies is key to our success. Unlike the franchise model, RELI Exchange is designed with low barriers to entry and a compelling value proposition. In addition, RELI Exchange significantly enhances competitive advantages through provided agency partners.
People (Target Audience)
We have identified several highly receptive target audiences, including:
| ● | Existing insurance agents & agency leadership/owners | |
| ● | People looking for a career change (GenX, older Millennials) | |
| ● | Experienced salespeople | |
| ● | Younger “quiet quitters” and “Great Resigners” who want more purposeful, lucrative work & flexibility | |
| ● | Recent college graduates with debt & unmarketable degrees with few career options | |
| ● | Captive Agents who feel trapped |
The RELI Exchange Platform
The RELI Exchange platform is a revolutionary way to get insurance quotes without requiring users to undergo a complicated process of manually completing lengthy forms. With basic contact information, our proprietary tool can generate accurate home auto and life insurance quotes from credible providers in under 5 minutes, for free. Then, our platform connects each user with a fully trained and knowledgeable agent who guides them through the rest of the process to deliver the best coverage at the best price.
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RELI Exchange is at the forefront of the digital transformation of the insurance industry. Our platform leverages unique technology, a proprietary database, and expert methodologies from experienced insurance agents to deliver a quality experience to agents and people looking to get insured.
In addition to providing customers with a great experience, RELI Exchange automates many processes for agents to free up their time to sell to new customers. The result is higher profitability with less work. Most importantly, mentorship is part of the RELI Exchange model, so that agents always receive the support they need to be successful.
System for Agent and Agency Partner Success
RELI Exchange agents have a distinct advantage over their captive counterparts when it comes to serving clients. They have access to multiple carriers in their markets, to provide more choices and solutions that fit their customers’ needs. Additionally, our automations and back-office support eliminate time spent on service requests and renewals, so agents can focus on sales growth.
We spent years developing our proprietary sales processes, backed up by an engaging mentorship program to maximize agent success. We provide every agent with comprehensive training, product and carrier knowledge, and cutting-edge technology. Plus, our back-office support team is readily available to train and assist agents at every step.
We actively recruit agents who are passionate about owning their own business and have a proven track record in business development. Our revenues are tied directly to their success, creating an environment that delivers consistent results.
Agents benefit from low startup costs and minimal overhead—no employees or physical location is required. In contrast, captive agents are often burdened with immediate hiring requirements, storefront leases, and advertising budgets. Moreover, our software platform delivers economies of scale so that fixed and variable costs are reduced for greater profitability.
Online Insurance and 5MinuteInsure.com
In August 2021, we launched 5MinuteInsure.com, which is a licensed online insurance agency that utilizes state of the art digital technology and seek to use this platform to develop business in the online insurance business which we believe represents an underutilized opportunity.
While 90% of customers are open to purchasing insurance online, 75% of the people who attempt to make online purchases report problems (Source: J.D. Power, Direct-to-Consumer Auto Insurers Take Top Honors in Shopping Study as New Normal Arrives for P&C Industry, J.D. Power Finds; Invoca, 36 Insurance Marketing Statistics You Need to Know in 2023). Moreover, the current insurance purchasing processes is time consuming and lacks transparency. There are over 96 insurance companies paying thousands of affiliates to generate leads, paying as much as $120 per lead (Source: The Insurance Marketer, Best Life Insurance Affiliate Programs: How Much Can You Earn?; Lasso, The 96 Best Insurance Affiliate Programs of 2023). Consequently, most of the current online sites are simply lead generators, which result in false insurance quotes, constant spam and aggressive sales pitches. We believe consumers are looking for an online platform that will replicate the services they could obtain from a traditional brick and mortar insurance agency, thus driving business toward the online site as we all migrate to online in this post COVID world.
Another key benefit to online insurance is the ability to combine seamlessly with electronic capabilities in processing, such as 5MinuteInsure.com’s proprietary backend processing technology to support our traditional agency business. 5MinuteInsure.com will be used internally by all the Reliance Global Group affiliated agencies to offer more products to our existing client base. By implementing artificial intelligence, robotic process automation and automatic shopping for best rates at renewals, we believe we can dramatically reduce costs, and allow our agents to focus on selling new policies, creating a digitally empowered and scalable insurance agency model.
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Specific benefits of the 5MinuteInsure.com platform include:
| ● | First, a simplified application process | |
| ● | Second, 5MinuteInsure.com has real-time connections with over 15 top-rated insurance companies, which allows consumers to transparently compare real live quotes from multiple insurers side-by-side. | |
| ● | Third, 5MinuteInsure.com provides instant accurate coverage recommendations for home, auto and life insurance, providing consumers confidence they are not under or over-insured. | |
| ● | Fourth, 5MinuteInsure.com provides in-house insurance buying and policy binding capabilities, meaning no redirection to other websites and the ability to finalize purchases on 5MinuteInsure.com in as little as five minutes. | |
| ● | Fifth, coming soon is 5MinuteInsure’s free and secure account enables 24/7 access to previous quotes, policies and other documents. | |
| ● | Finally, when it’s time for a policy renewal, 5MinuteInsure.com can populate the best offers in the market before their policy expires. |
Thus, we believe in the specific benefits of the online insurance business, and we believe that 5MinuteInsure.com provides the platform to transform this segment of the industry.
Business Operations (OneFirm)
Reliance Global Group has adopted a ‘One-Firm’ approach, whereby the Reliance owned and operated agencies come together to operate as one cohesive unit which allows for efficient and effective cross-selling, cross-collaboration, and the effective deployment of the Company’s human capital. This strategy also aims to enhance the Company’s overall market presence across the U.S., with all business lines operating under the RELI Exchange brand. It’s expected to benefit agents and clients by improving relationships with carriers, leading to better commission and bonus contracts due to higher business volumes. The approach also strengthens the capability of RELI Exchange agency partners in securing diverse insurance policies and fosters increased cross-selling opportunities. This unified strategy positions the company for rapid scaling and integration of accretive acquisitions, expanding its industry reach.
Insurance M&A Overview
As noted above, M&A deal volume in the insurance agency market remains robust with $78 billion in deals during 2023, despite drops as compared prior recent years and 2024 is expected to bring more acquisition opportunities.
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The COVID-19 crisis may have an impact on the insurance industry for quite some time. Some factors to consider:
| ● | Strain on investment portfolios – Insurance companies rely on their investment portfolios to generate returns. Markets have been in turmoil and, as a result, insurers’ investment portfolios may be significantly impacted. | |
| ● | Delayed payments – Regulators are urging insurance companies to accept late premium payments with no penalty, putting a strain on cash flow. Despite liquidity being impacted, insurance companies are still being expected to pay out claims. | |
| ● | Decreased premium volume – Full or partial closing of businesses coupled with social distancing has led to decreased demand for insurance. Lower payroll levels lead to lower payroll-based premiums, such as those in workers’ compensation, and an uptick in layoffs results in fewer people buying houses, cars, and other insurable purchases. A decrease in premium volume means a decrease in income for insurers. | |
| ● | Coverage disputes – Pandemics are generally excluded from insurance policy coverage and therefore policy premium has not included the necessary charges to provide such coverage. A number of states are attempting to legislate to force insurance companies to provide insurance coverage for business interruption and other losses for claims resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. There is uncertainty regarding which party will ultimately incur the additional cost for these adjustments. |
We cannot presently estimate the full financial impact of the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic on our business or predict the related federal, state and local civil authority actions, which are highly dependent on the severity and duration of the pandemic; however, we see opportunities which may arise as to changes in the markets. Due to the uncertainties associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and the indeterminate length of time it will affect, we have taken proactive measures to secure our liquidity position to be able to meet our obligations for the foreseeable future.
Reliance Insurance Agency Brand Acquisitions:
| ● | RELI Exchange | |
| ● | Altruis Benefits | |
| ● | J.P. Kush & Associates | |
| ● | US Benefits Alliance | |
| ● | Employee Benefits Solutions | |
| ● | Fortman Insurance Solutions | |
| ● | Southwestern Montana Insurance Center | |
| ● | UIS Agency | |
| ● | Commercial Coverage Solutions |
Acquisition History
| ● | In October 2018, announced first two acquisitions: Employee Benefits Solutions and U.S. Benefits Alliance; Michigan-based agencies specializing in the sale of health insurance products in the wholesale and retail industry | |
| ● | In December 2018, acquired Commercial Coverage Solutions, LLC, a commercial property and casualty insurance company specializing in commercial trucking and transportation insurance |
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| ● | In September 2019, two agencies transferred ownership from Reliance Global Holdings, LLC, a private company affiliated with Reliance Global Group: |
| Ø | Southwestern Montana Insurance, a group health insurance agency providing personal and commercial lines of insurance |
| Ø | Fortman Insurance Agency, LLC, an agency providing multiple lines of insurance in the property/casualty and life/health insurance sectors |
| ● | In September 2019, acquired Altruis Benefit Consulting; serves customers throughout the entire State of Michigan, specializing in providing individual and group health insurance |
| ● | In September 2020, acquired the assets of UIS Agency, LLC (UIS), a premier regional insurance agency serving the commercial transportation industry |
| ● | In May 2021, acquired J.P. Kush and Associates, Inc., a premier healthcare insurance agency with operations in 10 states, headquartered in Troy, Michigan |
| ● | In April 2022, acquired Barra & Associates, (changed to RELI Exchange following acquisition) a recognized provider of both personal and commercial insurance products, including P&C insurance, life insurance, health insurance and other insurance products. |
Insurance Agency Acquisition Strategy
| ● | Numerous acquisition targets within a highly fragmented market |
| Ø | Reliance’s access to capital supports the growth of the acquired companies |
| ● | Ownership and management remain engaged |
| ● | Focus on acquiring growing and profitable businesses, for below-market prices |
| Ø | Ability to leverage cash flow of acquiree through low-cost debt financing and provide earnouts as part of consideration |
| ● | Economies of scale through first class technology infrastructure and national sales/marketing platform |
| Ø | Few insurance agencies have the size and scale to compete at a national level |
| ● | Management expertise in acquisitions, operations, and financial management |
Digitizing Bricks & Mortar Agencies
| ● | Capitalizing on consumer shift to ‘online’ |
| Ø | More and more customers search for insurance online, but consumers prefer the personal touch of an agent |
| ● | Proprietary backend processing technology to support Reliance’s agency business |
| ● | Strategy to acquire traditional ‘offline’ home, auto and life agencies, and utilize technology to more cost effectively service the acquired policies |
| ● | By implementing artificial intelligence, robotic process automation (RPA) and automatic shopping for best rates at renewals, Reliance can: |
| Ø | Dramatically reduce cost |
| Ø | Allow agents to focus on selling new policies, |
| Ø | Create a digitally empowered and scalable insurance agency model |
| ● | Ability to rapidly expand Reliance’s agency network nationwide and drive margin expansion through the combination of digital backend and continued M&A of cash flow positive and accretive acquisitions |
Employees
As of December 31, 2023, we employed 67 employees across all Company subsidiaries.
We believe that a diverse workforce is important to our success. We will continue to focus on the hiring, retention, and advancement of underrepresented populations, and to cultivate an inclusive and diverse corporate culture. In the future, we intend to continue to evaluate our use of human capital measures or objectives in managing our business such as the factors we employ or seek to employ in the development, attraction and retention of personnel and maintenance of diversity in our workforce.
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The success of our business is fundamentally connected to the well-being of our people. Accordingly, we are committed to the health, safety and wellness of our employees. We provide our employees and their families with access to a variety of innovative, flexible and convenient health and wellness programs, including benefits that provide protection and security so they can have peace of mind concerning events that may require time away from work or that impact their financial well-being; that support their physical and mental health by providing tools and resources to help them improve or maintain their health status and encourage engagement in healthy behaviors; and that offer choice where possible so they can customize their benefits to meet their needs and the needs of their families.
We also provide robust compensation and benefits programs to help meet the needs of our employees. We believe that we maintain a satisfactory working relationship with our employees and have not experienced any labor disputes.
Competition
The insurance brokerage business is highly competitive, and numerous firms actively compete with us for customers and insurance markets. Competition is largely based upon innovation, knowledge, terms and conditions of coverage, quality of service and price. We believe that we’re well positioned to be highly competitive and continuously gain market share. Additionally, our focus on InsurTech is a game-changer in the industry and helps us stand-out vs. the competition.
The Merger and Acquisition of Insurance Agencies is a highly competitive industry, as well. Competition is due to many well-established companies having extensive experience in identifying and effecting business combinations who possess great technical, human, and financial resources. Several firms and banks with substantially greater resources and market presence compete with us. While we believe that there are numerous potential target businesses that we could acquire, our ability to compete in acquiring certain sizable target businesses might be limited.
Government Regulation
The business practices and compensation arrangements of the insurance intermediary industry, including our practices and arrangements, are regulated by various governmental authorities. Certain of our offices are parties to profit-sharing contingent commission agreements with certain insurance companies, including agreements providing for potential payment of revenue-sharing commissions by insurance companies based primarily on the overall profitability of the aggregate business written with those insurance companies and/or additional factors such as retention ratios and the overall volume of business that an office or offices place with those insurance companies. The legislatures of various states may adopt new laws addressing contingent commission arrangements, including laws prohibiting such arrangements, and addressing disclosure of such arrangements to insureds.
We and our employees must be licensed to act as brokers, intermediaries, or third-party administrators by state regulatory authorities in the locations in which we conduct business. Regulations and licensing laws vary by individual state and are often complex. The applicable licensing laws and regulations in all states are subject to amendment or reinterpretation by regulatory authorities, and such authorities are vested in most cases with relatively broad discretion as to the granting, revocation, suspension, and renewal of licenses. We believe that we are in compliance with the applicable licensing laws and regulations of all states in which we currently operate. However, the possibility still exists that we or our employees could be excluded or temporarily suspended from carrying on some or all of our activities in, or could otherwise be subjected to penalties by, a particular jurisdiction.
Nearly all states have insurance laws requiring personal property and casualty insurers to file rating plans, policy or coverage forms, and other information with the state’s regulatory authority. In many cases, such rating plans, policy, or coverage forms, must be approved prior to use and the regulator has the authority to disapprove a rate filing. While we are not an insurer, and thus not required to comply with state laws and regulations regarding insurance rates, our commissions are derived from a percentage of the premium rates set by insurers in conjunction with state law.
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Item 1a. RISK FACTORS
The following important factors, among others, could cause our actual operating results to differ materially from those indicated or suggested by forward-looking statements made in this Annual Report on Form 10-K or presented elsewhere by management from time to time. Investors should carefully consider the risks described below before making an investment decision. The risks described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks not presently known to us or that we currently believe are not material may also significantly impair our business operations. Our business could be harmed by any of these risks. The trading price of our common stock could decline due to any of these risks, and investors may lose all or part of their investment.
Risks Related to Our Business
We may experience significant fluctuations in our quarterly and annual results.
Fluctuations in our quarterly and annual financial results have resulted and will continue to result from numerous factors, including:
| ● | The Company having a limited operating history | |
| ● | The Company has limited resources and there is significant competition for business combination opportunities. Therefore, the Company may not be able to acquire other assets or businesses | |
| ● | The Company may be unable to obtain additional financing, if required, to complete an acquisition, or to complement the operations and growth of existing and target business, which could compel the Company to restructure a potential business transaction or abandon a particular business combination | |
| ● | We hold our cash and cash equivalents that we use to meet our working capital and operating expense needs in deposit accounts that could be adversely affected if the financial institution holding such funds fail. | |
| ● | Our inability to retain or hire qualified employees, as well as the loss of any of our executive officers, could negatively impact our ability to retain existing business and generate new business | |
| ● | Our growth strategy depends, in part, on the acquisition of other insurance intermediaries, which may not be available on acceptable terms in the future or which, if consummated, may not be advantageous to us | |
| ● | A cybersecurity attack, or any other interruption in information technology and/or data security and/or outsourcing relationships, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and reputation | |
| ● | Rapid technological change may require additional resources and time to adequately respond to dynamics, which may adversely affect our business and operating results | |
| ● | Changes in data privacy and protection laws and regulations, or any failure to comply with such laws and regulations, could adversely affect our business and financial results | |
| ● | Because our insurance business is highly concentrated in Michigan, New York, Montana, New Jersey, Ohio, and Illinois adverse economic conditions, natural disasters, or regulatory changes in these regions could adversely affect our financial condition | |
| ● | If we fail to comply with the covenants contained in certain of our agreements, our liquidity, results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected | |
| ● | Certain of our agreements contain various covenants that limit the discretion of our management in operating our business and could prevent us from engaging in certain potentially beneficial activities | |
| ● | There are inherent uncertainties involved in estimates, judgments and assumptions used in the preparation of financial statements in accordance with United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (U.S. GAAP). Any changes in estimates, judgments and assumptions could have a material adverse effect on our financial position and results of operations and therefore our business | |
| ● | Improper disclosure of confidential information could negatively impact our business | |
| ● | Our business could be adversely impacted by inflation. |
These factors, some of which are not within our control, may cause the price of our common stock to fluctuate substantially. If our operating results fail to meet or exceed the expectations of securities analysts or investors, our stock price could drop suddenly and significantly. Due to the Company’s limited operating history, we believe period to period comparisons of our financial results are not always meaningful and should not be relied upon as an indication of future performance.
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The Company has limited resources and there is significant competition for business combination opportunities. Therefore, the Company may not be able to acquire other assets or businesses.
The Company expects to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, which are also competing for acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human, financial and other resources. While the Company believes that there are numerous potential target businesses that it could acquire, the Company’s ability to compete in acquiring certain sizable target businesses might be limited if the Company’s limited financial resources are less than that of its competitors. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses.
The Company may be unable to obtain additional financing, if required, to complete an acquisition, or to Company the operations and growth of existing and target business, which could compel the Company to restructure a potential business transaction or abandon a particular business combination.
To date, much of our capital for acquiring and operating insurance agencies comes from loans from unaffiliated lenders, from direct market capital raises or funds provided by Reliance Global Holdings our affiliate. We may be required to seek additional financing. We cannot assure you that such financing would be available on acceptable terms, if at all. If additional financing proves to be unavailable, we would be compelled to restructure or existing business, or abandon a proposed acquisition or acquisitions. In addition, if we consummate additional acquisitions, we may require additional financing to complement the operations or growth of that business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of our business.
We hold our cash and cash equivalents that we use to meet our working capital and operating expense needs in deposit accounts that could be adversely affected if the financial institution holding such funds fail.
We hold our cash and cash equivalents that we use to meet our working capital and operating expense needs in deposit accounts at one financial institution. The balance held in these accounts exceeds the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC, standard deposit insurance limit of $250,000. If the financial institution in which we hold such funds fails or is subject to significant adverse conditions in the financial or credit markets, we could be subject to a risk of loss of all or a portion of such uninsured funds or be subject to a delay in accessing all or a portion of such uninsured funds. Any such loss or lack of access to these funds could adversely impact our short-term liquidity and ability to meet our operating expense obligations, including payroll obligations.
For example, on March 10, 2023, Silicon Valley Bank, or SVB, and Signature Bank, were closed by state regulators and the FDIC was appointed receiver for each bank. The FDIC created successor bridge banks and all deposits of SVB and Signature Bank were transferred to the bridge banks under a systemic risk exception approved by the United States Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve and the FDIC. If the financial institution in which we hold funds for working capital and operating expenses were to fail, we cannot provide any assurances that such governmental agencies would take action to protect our uninsured deposits or investments in a similar manner.
Our inability to retain or hire qualified employees, as well as the loss of any of our executive officers, could negatively impact our ability to retain existing business and generate new business.
Our success depends on our ability to attract and retain skilled and experienced personnel. There is significant competition from within the insurance industry and from businesses outside the industries for exceptional employees, especially in key positions. If we are not able to successfully attract, retain and motivate our employees, our business, financial results and reputation could be materially and adversely affected.
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Losing employees who manage or support substantial customer relationships or possess substantial experience or expertise could adversely affect our ability to secure and complete customer engagements, which would adversely affect our results of operations. Also, if any of our key personnel were to join an existing competitor or form a competing company, some of our customers could choose to use the services of that competitor instead of our services. While our key personnel are generally prohibited by contract from soliciting our employees and customers for a two-year period following separation from employment with us, they are not prohibited from competing with us.
In addition, we could be adversely affected if we fail to adequately plan for the succession of our senior leaders and key executives. We cannot guarantee that the services of these executives will continue to be available to us. The loss of our senior leaders or other key personnel, or our inability to continue to identify, recruit and retain such personnel, or to do so at reasonable compensation levels, could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition.
Our growth strategy depends, in part, on the acquisition of other insurance intermediaries, which may not be available on acceptable terms in the future or which, if consummated, may not be advantageous to us.
Our growth strategy partially includes the acquisition of other insurance intermediaries. Our ability to successfully identify suitable acquisition candidates, complete acquisitions, integrate acquired businesses into our operations, and expand into new markets requires us to implement and continuously improve our operations and our financial and management information systems. Integrated, acquired businesses may not achieve levels of revenues or profitability comparable to our existing operations, or otherwise perform as expected. In addition, we compete for acquisition and expansion opportunities with firms and banks that may have substantially greater resources than we do. Acquisitions also involve a number of special risks, such as diversion of management’s attention; difficulties in the integration of acquired operations and retention of personnel; increase in expenses and working capital requirements, which could reduce our return on invested capital; entry into unfamiliar markets or lines of business; unanticipated problems or legal liabilities; estimation of the acquisition earn-out payables; and tax and accounting issues, some or all of which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Post-acquisition deterioration of operating performance could also result in lower or negative earnings contribution and/or goodwill impairment charges.
A cybersecurity attack, or any other interruption in information technology and/or data security and/or outsourcing relationships, could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and reputation.
We rely on information technology and third-party vendors to provide effective and efficient service to our customers, process claims, and timely and accurately report information to carriers and which often involves secure processing of confidential sensitive, proprietary, and other types of information. Cybersecurity breaches of any of the systems we rely on may result from circumvention of security systems, denial-of-service attacks or other cyber-attacks, hacking, “phishing” attacks, computer viruses, ransomware, malware, employee or insider error, malfeasance, social engineering, physical breaches, or other actions, any of which could expose us to data loss, monetary and reputational damages and significant increases in compliance costs. An interruption of our access to, or an inability to access, our information technology, telecommunications or other systems could significantly impair our ability to perform such functions on a timely basis. If sustained or repeated, such a business interruption, system failure or service denial could result in a deterioration of our ability to write and process new and renewal business, provide customer service, pay claims in a timely manner or perform other necessary business functions. We have from time-to-time experienced cybersecurity breaches, such as computer viruses, unauthorized parties gaining access to our information technology systems and similar incidents, which to date have not had a material impact on our business.
Additionally, we are an acquisitive organization and the process of integrating the information systems of the businesses we acquire is complex and exposes us to additional risk as we might not adequately identify weaknesses in the targets’ information systems, which could expose us to unexpected liabilities or make our own systems more vulnerable to attack. In the future, any material breaches of cybersecurity, or media reports of the same, even if untrue, could cause us to experience reputational harm, loss of clients and revenue, loss of proprietary data, regulatory actions and scrutiny, sanctions or other statutory penalties, litigation, liability for failure to safeguard clients’ information or financial losses. Such losses may not be insured against or not fully covered through insurance we maintain.
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Rapid technological change may require additional resources and time to adequately respond to dynamics, which may adversely affect our business and operating results.
Frequent technological changes, new products and services and evolving industry standards are influencing the insurance businesses. The Internet, for example, is increasingly used to securely transmit benefits, property and personal information, and related information to customers and to facilitate business-to-business information exchange and transactions.
We are continuously taking steps to upgrade and expand our information systems capabilities. Maintaining, protecting, and enhancing these capabilities to keep pace with evolving industry and regulatory standards, and changing customer preferences, requires an ongoing commitment of significant resources. If the information we rely upon to run our businesses was found to be inaccurate or unreliable or if we fail to effectively maintain our information systems and data integrity, we could experience operational disruptions, regulatory or other legal problems, increases in operating expenses, loss of existing customers, difficulty in attracting new customers, or suffer other adverse consequences.
Changes in data privacy and protection laws and regulations, or any failure to comply with such laws and regulations, could adversely affect our business and financial results.
We are subject to a variety of continuously evolving and developing laws and regulations globally regarding privacy, data protection, and data security, including those related to the collection, storage, handling, use, disclosure, transfer, and security of personal data. Significant uncertainty exists as privacy and data protection laws may be interpreted and applied differently from country to country and may create inconsistent or conflicting requirements. These laws apply to transfers of information among our affiliates, as well as to transactions we enter into with third party vendors. These and similar initiatives around the world could increase the cost of developing, implementing, or securing our servers and require us to allocate more resources to improved technologies, adding to our information technology and compliance costs. In addition, enforcement actions and investigations by regulatory authorities related to data security incidents and privacy violations continue to increase. The enactment of more restrictive laws, rules, regulations or future enforcement actions or investigations could impact us through increased costs or restrictions on our business, and noncompliance could result in regulatory penalties and significant legal liability.
Because our insurance business is highly concentrated in Michigan, New York, Montana, New Jersey, Ohio, and Illinois adverse economic conditions, natural disasters, or regulatory changes in these regions could adversely affect our financial condition.
A significant portion of our insurance business is concentrated in Michigan, New York, Montana, New Jersey, Ohio, and Illinois. For the years ended December 31, 2023, and 2022 we derived $13,731,826 and $11,761,882 respectively or 100% of our annual revenue, respectively, from our operations located in these regions (FYE 2023 - Michigan – 55%, New York – 2%, Montana – 14% and Ohio – 16%, and Illinois – 13%. FYE 2022 - Michigan – 55%, New York – 2%, Montana – 16%, Ohio – 18%, and Illinois – 9%.). The insurance business is primarily a state-regulated industry, and therefore, state legislatures may enact laws that adversely affect the insurance industry. Because our business is concentrated in these four states, we face greater exposure to unfavorable changes in regulatory conditions in those states than insurance intermediaries whose operations are more diversified through a greater number of states. In addition, the occurrence of adverse economic conditions, natural or other disasters, or other circumstances specific to or otherwise significantly impacting these states could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. We are susceptible to losses and interruptions caused by hurricanes or other weather conditions, and other possible events such as terrorist acts and other natural or man-made disasters. Our insurance coverage with respect to natural disasters is limited and is subject to deductibles and coverage limits. Such coverage may not be adequate or may not continue to be available at commercially reasonable rates and terms.
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If we fail to comply with the covenants contained in certain of our agreements, our liquidity, results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected.
The Oak Street credit agreements, in the aggregate principal amount of $12,417,737 and $13,468,394, as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, that govern our debt contain various covenants and other limitations with which we must comply including a debt to EBITDA ratio covenant and a covenant that at all times that the loans are outstanding: (i) Ezra Beyman, our chief executive officer, Debra Beyman, Mr. Beyman’s wife, or Yaakov Beyman, son of Mr. and Ms. Beyman, or someone else approved by Oak Street, as applicable, will be the manager of the current subsidiaries of the Company, (ii) Mr. Ezra Beyman will be President and Chairperson of the Board of the Company, and (iii) Reliance Global Holdings will continue to remain a shareholder of the Company’s equity and Ezra and Debra will be the sole owners of Reliance Global Holdings as tenants in entirety. The credit agreements also contain provisions which cause a “cross default” if we default our obligations under other material contracts to which we are parties. The credit agreements contain customary and usual events of default, including, subject to certain specified cure periods and notice requirements, the Company’s or one of its subsidiaries’ failure to comply with the covenants therein. Upon an event of default, the lender has customary and usual remedies to cure these defaults including, but not limited to, the ability to accelerate the indebtedness.
The credit agreements contain financial covenants including debt service coverage ratio and debt to EBIDTA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) tests. As of December 31, 2023, the Company is in compliance with all financial covenants.
Certain of our agreements contain various covenants that limit the discretion of our management in operating our business and could prevent us from engaging in certain potentially beneficial activities.
The restrictive covenants in our debt agreements may impact how we operate our business and prevent us from engaging in certain potentially beneficial activities. Among other covenants, our debt agreements require us to maintain a minimum ratio of Consolidated EBITDA, adjusted for certain transaction-related items (“Consolidated EBITDA”), to consolidated interest expense and a maximum ratio of consolidated net indebtedness to Consolidated EBITDA. Our compliance with these covenants could limit management’s discretion in operating our business and could prevent us from engaging in certain potentially beneficial activities.
There are inherent uncertainties involved in estimates, judgments and assumptions used in the preparation of financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Any changes in estimates, judgments and assumptions could have a material adverse effect on our financial position and results of operations and therefore our business.
The preparation of financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP involves making estimates, judgments and assumptions that affect reported amounts of assets (including intangible assets), liabilities and related reserves, revenues, expenses, and income. Estimates, judgments and assumptions are inherently subject to change in the future, and any such changes could result in corresponding changes to the values of assets, liabilities, revenues, expenses and income, and could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.
Improper disclosure of confidential information could negatively impact our business.
We are responsible for maintaining the security and privacy of our customers’ confidential and proprietary information and the personal data of their employees. We have put in place policies, procedures and technological safeguards designed to protect the security and privacy of this information; however, we cannot guarantee that this information will not be improperly disclosed or accessed. Disclosure of this information could harm our reputation and subject us to liability under our contracts and laws that protect personal data, resulting in increased costs or loss of revenues.
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Our business, results of operations, financial condition and liquidity may be materially adversely affected by certain actual and potential claims, regulatory actions and proceedings.
We are subject to various actual and potential claims, regulatory actions and other proceedings including those relating to alleged errors and omissions in connection with the placement or servicing of insurance and/or the provision of services in the ordinary course of business, of which we cannot, and likely will not be able to, predict the outcome with certainty. Because we often assist customers with matters involving substantial amounts of money, including the placement of insurance and the handling of related claims that customers may assert, errors and omissions claims against us may arise alleging potential liability for all or part of the amounts in question. Also, the failure of an insurer with whom we place business could result in errors and omissions claims against us by our customers, which could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. Claimants may seek large damage awards, and these claims may involve potentially significant legal costs, including punitive damages. Such claims, lawsuits and other proceedings could, for example, include claims for damages based upon allegations that our employees or sub-agents failed to procure coverage, report claims on behalf of customers, provide insurance companies with complete and accurate information relating to the risks being insured or appropriately apply funds that we hold for our customers on a fiduciary basis. In addition, given the long-tail nature of professional liability claims, errors and omissions matters can relate to matters dating back many years. Where appropriate, we have established provisions against these potential matters that we believe to be adequate in the light of current information and legal advice, and we adjust such provisions from time to time according to developments.
While most of the errors and omissions claims made against us (subject to our self-insured deductibles) have been covered by our professional indemnity insurance, our business, results of operations, financial condition and liquidity may be adversely affected if, in the future, our insurance coverage proves to be inadequate or unavailable, or if there is an increase in liabilities for which we self-insure. Our ability to obtain professional indemnity insurance in the amounts and with the deductibles we desire in the future may be adversely impacted by general developments in the market for such insurance or our own claims experience. In addition, regardless of monetary costs, these matters could have a material adverse effect on our reputation and cause harm to our carrier, customer or employee relationships, or divert personnel and management resources.
Our business could be adversely impacted by inflation.
Increases in inflation may have an adverse effect on our business. Current and future inflationary effects may be driven by, among other things, supply chain disruptions and governmental stimulus or fiscal policies. Continuing increases in inflation could impact the overall demand for our products, our costs for labor, material and services, and the margins we are able to realize on our products, all of which could have an adverse impact on our business, financial position, results of operations and cash flows. Inflation may also result in higher interest rates, which in turn would result in higher interest.
Risks Related to the Insurance Industry
We may experience increased competition from insurance companies, technology companies and the financial services industry, as well as the shift away from traditional insurance markets.
The insurance intermediary business is highly competitive and we actively compete with numerous firms for customers, properties and insurance companies, many of which have relationships with insurance companies, or have a significant presence in niche insurance markets that may give them an advantage over us. Other competitive concerns may include the quality of our products and services, our pricing, and the ability of some of our customers to self-insure and the entrance of technology companies into the insurance intermediary business. Several insurance companies are engaged in the direct sale of insurance, primarily to individuals, and do not pay commissions to agents and brokers. In addition, and to the extent that banks, securities firms, private equity companies, and insurance companies affiliate, the financial services industry may experience further consolidation, and we therefore may experience increased competition from insurance companies and the financial services industry, as a growing number of larger financial institutions increasingly, and aggressively, offer a wider variety of financial services, including insurance intermediary services.
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Worsening of Current U.S. economic conditions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian Federation Military Action may adversely affect our business.
Management continues to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that the virus could have a negative effect on the Company’s financial position or results of its operations, the specific impact is not readily determinable as of the date of the financial statements. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
In February 2022, the Russian Federation and Belarus commenced a military action with the country of Ukraine. As a result of this action, various nations, including the United States, have instituted economic sanctions against the Russian Federation and Belarus. Further, the impact of this action and related sanctions on the world economy are not determinable as of the date of these financial statements and the specific impact on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows is also not determinable as of the date of these financial statements.
If economic conditions were to worsen, a number of negative effects on our business could result, including declines in values of insurable exposure units, declines in insurance premium rates, the financial insolvency of insurance companies, the reduced ability of customers to pay, declines in the stock of residential housing or declines in property values. Also, if general economic conditions are poor, some of our customers may cease operations completely or be acquired by other companies, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. If these customers are affected by poor economic conditions, but yet remain in existence, they may face liquidity problems or other financial difficulties that could result in delays or defaults in payments owed to us, which could have a significant adverse impact on our consolidated financial condition and results of operations. Any of these effects could decrease our net revenues and profitability.
Our business, and therefore our results of operations and financial condition, may be adversely affected by conditions that result in reduced insurer capacity.
Our results of operations depend on the continued capacity of insurance carriers to underwrite risk and provide coverage, which depends in turn on those insurance companies’ ability to procure reinsurance. Capacity could also be reduced by insurance companies failing or withdrawing from writing certain coverages that we offer to our customers. We have no control over these matters. To the extent that reinsurance becomes less widely available or significantly more expensive, we may not be able to procure the amount or types of coverage that our customers desire and the coverage we are able to procure for our customers may be more expensive or limited.
Quarterly and annual variations in our commissions that result from the timing of policy renewals and the net effect of new and lost business production may have unexpected effects on our results of operations.
Our commission income (including profit-sharing contingent commissions and override commissions) can vary quarterly or annually due to the timing of policy renewals and the net effect of new and lost business production. We do not control the factors that cause these variations. Specifically, customers’ demand for insurance products can influence the timing of renewals, new business, and lost business (which includes policies that are not renewed), and cancellations. In addition, we rely on insurance companies for the payment of certain commissions. Because these payments are processed internally by these insurance companies, we may not receive a payment that is otherwise expected from a particular insurance company in a particular quarter or year until after the end of that period, which can adversely affect our ability to forecast these revenues and therefore budget for significant future expenditures. Quarterly and annual fluctuations in revenues based upon increases and decreases associated with the timing of new business, policy renewals and payments from insurance companies may adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Profit-sharing contingent commissions are special revenue-sharing commissions paid by insurance companies based upon the profitability, volume and/or growth of the business placed with such companies generally during the prior year. Override commissions are paid by insurance companies based upon the volume of business that we place with them and are generally paid over the course of the year. Because profit-sharing contingent commissions and override commissions affect our revenues, any decrease in their payment to us could adversely affect our results of operations, profitability, and our financial condition.
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Our business practices and compensation arrangements are subject to uncertainty due to potential changes in regulations.
The business practices and compensation arrangements of the insurance intermediary industry, including our practices and arrangements, are subject to uncertainty due to investigations by various governmental authorities. Certain of our offices are parties to profit-sharing contingent commission agreements with certain insurance companies, including agreements providing for potential payment of revenue-sharing commissions by insurance companies based primarily on the overall profitability of the aggregate business written with those insurance companies and/or additional factors such as retention ratios and the overall volume of business that an office or offices place with those insurance companies. Additionally, to a lesser extent, some of our offices are parties to override commission agreements with certain insurance companies, which provide for commission rates in excess of standard commission rates to be applied to specific lines of business, such as group health business, and which are based primarily on the overall volume of business that such office or offices placed with those insurance companies. The legislatures of various states may adopt new laws addressing contingent commission arrangements, including laws prohibiting such arrangements, and addressing disclosure of such arrangements to insureds. Various state departments of insurance may also adopt new regulations addressing these matters which could adversely affect our results of operations.
Risk of lack of knowledge in distant geographic markets
Although the Company intends to focus its investments in locations with which we are generally familiar, the Company runs a risk of experiencing underwriting challenges or issues associated with a lack of familiarity in some markets. Each market has nuances and idiosyncrasies that affect values, marketability, desirability, and demand for individual assets that may not be easily understood from afar. While we believe we can effectively mitigate these risks in a myriad of ways, there is no guarantee that investments in any geographic market will perform as expected.
Potential liability or other expenditures associated with potential environmental contamination may be costly.
Various federal, state, and local laws subject multifamily residential community owners or operators to liability for management, and the costs of removal or remediation, of certain potentially hazardous materials that may be present in the land or buildings of a multifamily residential community. Potentially hazardous materials may include polychlorinated biphenyls, petroleum-based fuels, lead-based paint or asbestos, among other materials. Such laws often impose liability without regard to fault or whether the owner or operator knew of, or was responsible for, the presence of such materials. The presence of, or the failure to manage or remediate properly, these materials may adversely affect occupancy at such apartment communities as well as the ability to sell or finance such apartment communities. In addition, governmental agencies may bring claims for costs associated with investigation and remediation actions, damages to natural resources and for potential fines or penalties in connection with such damage or with respect to the improper management of hazardous materials. Moreover, private plaintiffs may potentially make claims for investigation and remediation costs they incur or personal injury, disease, disability or other infirmities related to the alleged presence of hazardous materials at a multifamily residential community. In addition to potential environmental liabilities or costs associated with our current multifamily residential communities, we may also be responsible for such liabilities or costs associated with communities we acquire or manage in the future, or multifamily residential communities we no longer own or operate.
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We compete in a highly regulated industry, which may result in increased expenses or restrictions on our operations.
We conduct business in several states of the United States of America and are subject to comprehensive regulation and supervision by government agencies in each of those states. The primary purpose of such regulation and supervision is to provide safeguards for policyholders rather than to protect the interests of our shareholders, and it is difficult to anticipate how changes in such regulation would be implemented and enforced. As a result, such regulation and supervision could reduce our profitability or growth by increasing compliance costs, technology compliance, restricting the products or services we may sell, the markets we may enter, the methods by which we may sell our products and services, or the prices we may charge for our services and the form of compensation we may accept from our customers, carriers and third parties.
The laws of the various state jurisdictions establish supervisory agencies with broad administrative powers with respect to, among other things, licensing of entities to transact business, licensing of agents, admittance of assets, regulating premium rates, approving policy forms, regulating unfair trade and claims practices, determining technology and data protection requirements, establishing reserve requirements and solvency standards, requiring participation in guarantee funds and shared market mechanisms, and restricting payment of dividends. Also, in response to perceived excessive cost or inadequacy of available insurance, states have from time to time created state insurance funds and assigned risk pools, which compete directly, on a subsidized basis, with private insurance providers. We act as agents and brokers for such state insurance funds and assigned risk pools in Michigan as well as certain other states. These state funds and pools could choose to reduce the sales or brokerage commissions we receive. Any such reductions, in a state in which we have substantial operations could affect the profitability of our operations in such state or cause us to change our marketing focus.
Further, state insurance regulators and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners continually re-examine existing laws and regulations, and such re-examination may result in the enactment of insurance-related laws and regulations, or the issuance of interpretations thereof, that adversely affect our business. Certain federal financial services modernization legislation could lead to additional federal regulation of the insurance industry in the coming years, which could result in increased expenses or restrictions on our operations.
Other legislative developments that could adversely affect us include: changes in our business compensation model as a result of regulatory developments (for example, the Affordable Care Act); and federal and state governments establishing programs to provide health insurance or, in certain cases, property insurance in catastrophe-prone areas or other alternative market types of coverage, that compete with, or completely replace, insurance products offered by insurance carriers. Also, as climate change issues become more prevalent, the U.S. and foreign governments are beginning to respond to these issues. This increasing governmental focus on climate change may result in new environmental regulations that may negatively affect us and our customers. This could cause us to incur additional direct costs in complying with any new environmental regulations, as well as increased indirect costs resulting from our customers incurring additional compliance costs that get passed on to us. These costs may adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.
Although we believe that we are in compliance in all material respects with applicable local, state, and federal laws, rules and regulations, there can be no assurance that more restrictive laws, rules, regulations or interpretations thereof, will not be adopted in the future that could make compliance more difficult or expensive.
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Risks Related to Investing in our Securities
We may experience volatility in our stock price that could affect your investment.
The market price of our common stock may be subject to significant fluctuations in response to various factors, including: quarterly fluctuations in our operating results; changes in securities analysts’ estimates of our future earnings; changes in securities analysts’ predictions regarding the short-term and long-term future of our industry; changes to the tax code; and our loss of significant customers or significant business developments relating to us or our competitors. Our common stock’s market price also may be affected by our inability to meet stock analysts’ earnings and other expectations. Any failure to meet such expectations, even if minor, could cause the market price of our common stock to decline. In addition, stock markets have generally experienced a high level of price and volume volatility, and the market prices of equity securities of many listed companies have experienced wide price fluctuations not necessarily related to the operating performance of such companies. These broad market fluctuations may adversely affect our common stock’s market price. In the past, securities class action lawsuits frequently have been instituted against companies following periods of volatility in the market price of such companies’ securities. If any such litigation is initiated against us, it could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows.
Our failure to meet the continued listing requirements of The Nasdaq Capital Market could result in a delisting of our common stock.
Our shares of common stock are currently listed on Nasdaq. If we fail to satisfy the continued listing requirements of The Nasdaq Capital Market, such as the corporate governance requirements, minimum bid price requirement or the minimum stockholders’ equity requirement, Nasdaq may take steps to delist our common stock. Any delisting would likely have a negative effect on the price of our common stock and would impair stockholders’ ability to sell or purchase their common stock when they wish to do so.
As previously disclosed in the Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 16, 2024 by the Company on January 12, 2024, the Company received written notice from Nasdaq’s Listing Qualifications Department notifying the Company that for the preceding 30 consecutive business days (November 29, 2023 to January 11, 2024), the Company’s common stock did not maintain a minimum closing bid price of $1.00 per share as required by Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2). The notice has no immediate effect on the listing or trading of the Company’s common stock and the common stock continued to trade on Nasdaq under the symbol “RELI.” In accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A), the Company has a compliance period of 180 calendar days, or until July 10, 2024, to regain compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2).
Any perception that we may not comply with Nasdaq continued listing requirements or a delisting of our common stock by Nasdaq could adversely affect our ability to attract new investors, decrease the liquidity of the outstanding shares of our common stock, reduce the price at which such shares trade and increase the transaction costs inherent in trading such shares with overall negative effects for our stockholders. In addition, delisting of our common stock from Nasdaq could deter broker-dealers from making a market in or otherwise seeking or generating interest in our common stock, and might deter certain institutions and persons from investing in our common stock.
The Company’s CEO has a significant common stock equity interest.
As of April 4, 2024, our CEO, Ezra Beyman, is the beneficial owner of approximately 8% of the common stock, consisting of 381,020 common shares. As of December 31, 2023, the are no outstanding loan balances due to affiliated entities to our CEO, Reliance Global Holdings LLC and YES Americana Group, LLC.
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Under our credit agreements with Oak Street, the Company has agreed that at all times that the loans are outstanding: (i) Ezra Beyman, our chief executive officer, Debra Beyman, Mr. Beyman’s wife, or Yaakov Beyman, son of Mr. and Ms. Beyman, or someone else approved by Oak Street, as applicable, will be the manager of the current subsidiaries of the Company, (ii) Mr. Ezra Beyman will be President and Chairperson of the Board of the Company, and (iii) Reliance Global Holdings will continue to remain a shareholder of the Company’s equity and Ezra and Debra will be the sole owners of Reliance Global Holdings as tenants in entirety. The loans by Oak Street immediately mature and become due and payable if the Company fails to comply with these provisions, subject to certain notice and/or cure periods.
Broad discretion of management
Any person who invests in the Company’s common stock will do so without an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of any prospective acquisition. As a result, investors will be entirely dependent on the broad discretion and judgment of management in connection with the selection of acquisitions. There can be no assurance that determinations made by the Company’s management will permit us to achieve the Company’s business objectives.
Future sales or other dilution of our equity could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
We grow our business organically as well as through acquisitions. One method of acquiring companies or otherwise Companying our corporate activities is through the issuance of additional equity securities. The issuance of any additional shares of common or of preferred stock or convertible securities could be substantially dilutive to holders of our common stock. Moreover, to the extent that we issue restricted stock units, performance stock units, options or warrants to purchase shares of our common stock in the future and those options or warrants are exercised or as the restricted stock units or performance stock units vest, our stockholders may experience further dilution. Holders of our common stock have no preemptive rights that entitle holders to purchase their pro rata share of any offering of shares of any class or series and, therefore, such sales or offerings could result in increased dilution to our stockholders. The market price of our common stock could decline as a result of sales of shares of our common stock or the perception that such sales could occur.
The price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly, and this may make it difficult to resell shares of common stock at attractive prices.
The trading price of our common stock may fluctuate widely as a result of a number of factors, including the risk factors described above many of which are outside our control. In addition, the stock market is subject to fluctuations in the share prices and trading volumes that affect the market prices of the shares of many companies. These broad market fluctuations have adversely affected and may continue to adversely affect the market price of our common stock. Among the factors that could affect our stock price are:
| ● | General economic and political conditions such as recessions, economic downturns and acts of war or terrorism; | |
| ● | Quarterly variations in our operating results; | |
| ● | Seasonality of our business cycle; | |
| ● | Changes in the market’s expectations about our operating results; | |
| ● | Our operating results failing to meet the expectation of securities analysts or investors in a particular period; | |
| ● | Changes in financial estimates and recommendations by securities analysts concerning us or the insurance brokerage or financial services industries in general; | |
| ● | Operating and stock price performance of other companies that investors deem comparable to us; | |
| ● | News reports relating to trends in our markets, including any expectations regarding an upcoming “hard” or “soft” market; | |
| ● | Cyberattacks and other cybersecurity incidents; | |
| ● | Changes in laws and regulations affecting our business; | |
| ● | Material announcements by us or our competitors; | |
| ● | The impact or perceived impact of developments relating to our investments, including the possible perception by securities analysts or investors that such investments divert management attention from our core operations; | |
| ● | Market volatility; | |
| ● | A negative market reaction to announced acquisitions; | |
| ● | Competitive pressures in each of our divisions; | |
| ● | General conditions in the insurance brokerage and insurance industries; | |
| ● | Legal proceedings or regulatory investigations; | |
| ● | Sales of substantial amounts of common shares by our directors, executive officers or significant stockholders or the perception that such sales could occur. |
Stockholder class action lawsuits may be instituted against us following a period of volatility in our stock price. Any such litigation could result in substantial cost and a diversion of management’s attention and resources.
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Possible issuance of additional securities.
Our Articles of Incorporation authorize the issuance of 2,000,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.086 per share. As of December 31, 2023 we had 4,761,974 shares issued and outstanding. We may be expected to issue additional shares in connection with our pursuit of new business opportunities and new business operations. To the extent that additional shares of common stock are issued, our shareholders would experience dilution of their respective ownership interests. If we issue shares of common stock in connection with our intent to pursue new business opportunities, a change in control of the Company may be expected to occur. The issuance of additional shares of common stock may adversely affect the market price of our common stock, in the event that an active trading market commences.
We could be negatively impacted by cybersecurity attacks.
We may use a variety of information technology systems in the ordinary course of business, which are potentially vulnerable to unauthorized access, computer viruses and cyberattacks, including cyberattacks to our information technology infrastructure and attempts by others to gain access to our propriety or sensitive information, and ranging from individual attempts to advanced persistent threats. The risk of such a security breach or disruption has generally increased as the number, intensity and sophistication of attempted attacks and intrusions from around the world have increased and will likely continue to increase in the future. The procedures and controls we use to monitor these threats and mitigate our exposure may not be sufficient to prevent cyber security incidents. The results of these incidents could include disrupted operations, misstated or unreliable financial data, theft of trade secrets or other intellectual property, liability for disclosure of confidential customer, supplier or employee information, increased costs arising from the implementation of additional security protective measures, regulatory enforcement litigation and reputational damage, which could materially adversely affect our financial condition, business and results of operations. These risks require continuous and likely increasing attention and other resources from us to, among other actions, identify and quantify these risks, upgrade and expand our technologies, systems and processes to adequately address them and provide periodic training for employees to assist them in detecting phishing, malware and other schemes. Such attention diverts time and other resources from other activities and there is no assurance that our efforts will be effective. Additionally, the cost of maintaining and improving such systems and processes, procedures and internal controls may increase from its current level. Potential sources for disruption, damage or failure of our information technology systems include, without limitation, computer viruses, security breaches, human error, cyberattacks, natural disasters and defects in design. Additionally, we rely on third party service providers for certain aspects of our business. We can provide no assurance that the networks and systems that our third party vendors have established or use will be effective. Even if we are not targeted directly, cyberattacks on the U.S. and foreign governments, financial markets, financial institutions, or other businesses, including vendors, software creators, cybersecurity service providers, and other third parties with whom we do business, may occur, and such events could disrupt our normal business operations and networks in the future.
We are subject to a variety of federal, state, and international laws and other obligations regarding data protection.
We are subject to a variety of federal, state, and international laws and other obligations regarding data protection. Several jurisdictions have passed laws in this area, and other jurisdictions are considering imposing additional restrictions. These laws continue to develop and may be inconsistent from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Complying with emerging and changing domestic and international requirements may cause us or our businesses to incur substantial costs or require us or one of our businesses to change its business practices. Any failure by us to comply with our own privacy policy, applicable association rules, or with other federal, state or international privacy-related or data protection laws and regulations could result in proceedings against us by governmental entities or others.
Dividends unlikely.
The Company does not expect to pay dividends for the foreseeable future. The payment of dividends will be contingent upon the Company’s future revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and overall financial conditions. The payment of any future dividends will be within the discretion of the Company’s board of directors as then constituted. It is the Company’s expectation that future management following a business combination will determine to retain any earnings for use in its business operations and accordingly, the Company does not anticipate declaring any dividends in the foreseeable future.
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Speculative Nature of Warrants.
Warrants offered in our various equity offerings do not confer any rights of common stock ownership on their holders, such as voting rights, and could limit the rights to receive dividends, they rather merely represent the right to acquire shares of our common stock at a fixed price for a limited period of time. Moreover, following these offerings, the market value of the warrants is uncertain and there can be no assurance that the market value of the warrants will equal or exceed their public offering price. There can be no assurance that the market price of the common stock will ever equal or exceed the exercise price of the warrants, and consequently, whether it will ever be profitable for holders of the warrants to exercise the warrants.
State blue sky registration; potential limitations on resale of the Company’s common stock
The holders of the Company’s shares of common stock registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and those persons who desire to purchase them in any trading market that may develop in the future, should be aware that there may be state blue-sky law restrictions upon the ability of investors to resell the Company’s securities. Accordingly, investors should consider the secondary market for the Company’s securities to be a limited one.
Changes in tax laws could materially affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
The tax regimes we are subject to or operate under, including income and non-income taxes, are unsettled and may be subject to significant change. For example, the Inflation Reduction Act (the “IRA”) was signed into law on August 16, 2022 and was effective beginning in fiscal 2023. The IRA imposes a 15% minimum tax for large corporations on global adjusted financial statement income for tax years beginning after December 31, 2022, and a 1% excise tax on certain share repurchases occurring after December 31, 2022. We do not currently expect that the IRA will have a material impact on our income tax liability, but will continue to monitor this change in future periods. We are unable to predict what changes to the tax laws of the U.S. and other jurisdictions may be proposed or enacted in the future or what effect such changes would have on our business. Any significant increase in our future effective tax rate could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
Expectations of our company relating to environmental, social and governance factors may impose additional costs and expose us to new risks.
There is an increasing focus from certain investors, customers and other key stakeholders concerning corporate responsibility, specifically related to environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) factors. We expect that an increased focus on ESG considerations will affect some aspects of our operations, particularly as we expand into new geographic markets. There are a number of constituencies that are involved in a range of ESG issues, including investors, special interest groups, public and consumer interest groups and third-party service providers. As a result, there is an increased emphasis on corporate responsibility ratings and several third parties provide reports on companies to measure and assess corporate responsibility performance. In addition, the ESG factors by which companies’ corporate responsibility practices are assessed may change, which could result in greater expectations of us and cause us to undertake costly initiatives to satisfy such new criteria. Alternatively, if we are unable to satisfy such new criteria, investors may conclude that our policies with respect to corporate responsibility are inadequate. We risk damage to our brand and reputation if our corporate responsibility procedures or standards do not meet the standards set by various constituencies. In the future, we may be required to make substantial investments in matters related to ESG which could require significant investment and impact our results of operations. Any failure in our decision-making or related investments in this regard could affect consumer perceptions as to our brand. Furthermore, if our competitors’ corporate responsibility performance is perceived to be greater than ours, potential or current investors may elect to invest with our competitors instead. In addition, in the event that we communicate certain initiatives and goals regarding ESG matters, we could fail, or be perceived to fail, in our achievement of such initiatives or goals, or we could be criticized for the scope of such initiatives or goals. If we fail to satisfy the expectations of investors and other key stakeholders or our initiatives are not executed as planned, our reputation and financial results could be materially and adversely affected.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
Not applicable.
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Item 1C. Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity Risk Management and Strategy
The cybersecurity risk management program, processes, and strategy described in this section are limited to the personal and business information belonging to or maintained by the Company (collectively, “Confidential Information”), our own third-party critical systems and services supporting or used by the Company (collectively, “Critical Systems”), and service providers.
We will consider developing and implementing a cybersecurity risk management program intended to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of our Confidential Information and Critical Systems. Our cybersecurity risk management program will be integrated into our overall enterprise risk management program and includes a cybersecurity incident response plan.
Our contemplated cybersecurity risk management program shall include:
| ● | risk assessments designed to help identify material cybersecurity risks to our Confidential Information, Critical Systems and the broader enterprise IT environment; | |
| ● | a security team principally responsible for managing (1) our cybersecurity risk assessment processes, (2) our security controls, and (3) our response to cybersecurity incidents; | |
| ● | cybersecurity awareness and spear-phishing resistance training of our employees, and senior management; | |
| ● | a cybersecurity incident response plan that includes procedures for responding to cybersecurity incidents; and | |
| ● | a vendor management policy for service providers. |
We have not identified risks from known cybersecurity threats, including as a result of any prior cybersecurity incidents, that have materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect us, including our operations, business strategy, results of operations, or financial condition. We face risks from cybersecurity threats that, if realized, could have a material adverse effect on us including an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Cybersecurity Governance
Our executive management team, along with our managed information technology service provider, is responsible for assessing and managing risks from cybersecurity threats to the Company, including our Confidential Information and Critical Systems. The team has primary responsibility for our overall cybersecurity risk management program. Our management team works closely with our information technology service provider.
Our management team may meet with our information technology service provider periodically to discuss then-current cybersecurity issues, which may include efforts to prevent, detect, mitigate, and remediate cybersecurity risks and incidents through various means, including threat intelligence and other information obtained from governmental, public or private sources, and external service providers engaged by us; and alerts and reports produced by security tools deployed in the information technology environment including a spear-phishing report.
Our Board considers cybersecurity risk as part of its risk oversight function and oversight of cybersecurity and other information technology risks.
Our Board oversees management’s implementation of our cybersecurity risk management program. Our executive management team is responsible for updating the Board, as necessary, regarding significant cybersecurity incidents.
Our Board shall also receive period reports from management (as deemed applicable) on our cybersecurity risks and cybersecurity risk management program.
Item 2. Properties
Below is a schedule of the properties we currently occupy:
| Entity Name | Location | Own/Lease | Description | Approx. Sq. Footage | Lease Term | Monthly Rent in USD | ||||||||||
| Employee Benefits Solutions | Cadillac, Michigan | Lease | Office Building | 3,024 | 10/2019– 9/2024 | $ | 2,600 | |||||||||
| Southwestern Montana Insurance Center | Belgrade, Montana | Lease | Office Building | 6,000 | 4/2019– 3/2024 | $ | 7,000 | |||||||||
| Southwestern Montana Insurance Center | Belgrade, Montana | Lease | Office Building | 6,000 | 4/2024– 3/2028 | $ | 7,500 | |||||||||
| Fortman Insurance Center | Bluffton, Ohio | Lease | Office Building | 990 | 9/2020 – 8/2024 | $ | 600 | |||||||||
| Fortman Insurance Center | Ottawa, Ohio | Lease | Office Building | 2,386 | 5/2019– 4/2024 | $ | 2,400 | |||||||||
| Altruis Benefits Consultants | Bingham Farms, MI | Lease | Office Building | 1,767 | 6/2021– 5/2024 | $ | 4,997 | |||||||||
| Reliance Global Group, Inc. | Lakewood, NJ | Lease | Office Building | 4,436 | 6/2021 – 3/2029 | $ | 8,737 | |||||||||
| Reliance Global Group, Inc. | Suffern, NY | Lease | Office Building | 9/2022 – 8/2024 | $ | 2,000 | ||||||||||
| Reli Exchange | Schaumburg, IL | Lease | Office Building | 4/2022 – 05/2025 | $ | 3,589 | ||||||||||
Item 3. Legal Proceedings
From time to time, we are subject to various legal proceedings and claims, either asserted or unasserted, arising in the ordinary course of business. While the outcome of these claims cannot be predicted with certainty, management does not believe the outcome of any of these matters will have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position, results of operations, or cash flows. Litigation relating to the insurance brokerage industry is not uncommon. As such the Company, from time to time have been, subject to such litigation. No assurances can be given with respect to the extent or outcome of any such litigation in the future.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
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PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Holders of Record
As of December 31, 2023, there were approximately 522 holders of record of our ordinary shares, although there is a much larger number of beneficial owners.
Dividends
The Company has never paid any cash dividends and does not expect to pay dividends for the foreseeable future. We anticipate that we will retain funds and future earnings to support operations and to finance the growth and development of our business. The payment of dividends will be contingent upon the Company’s future revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements, overall financial condition, and other factors that our board of directors deems relevant. The payment of any future dividends will be within the discretion of the Company’s board of directors as then constituted. It is the Company’s expectation that future management following a business combination will determine to retain any earnings for use in its business operations and accordingly, the Company does not anticipate declaring any dividends in the foreseeable future.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
There have been no equity securities repurchased by the Company for the years ending December 31, 2023 and 2022.
Market Information
Our common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol “RELI”, and our warrants to purchase common stock are listed on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol “RELIW.”
On April 03, 2024, the closing price per share of our common stock was $0.37 as reported on the NASDAQ.
Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans
2019 Equity Incentive Plans
On January 29, 2019, our board of directors and stockholders adopted the 2019 Equity Incentive Plan, pursuant to which 46,667 shares of our common stock are reserved for issuance as awards to employees, directors, consultants, advisors, and other service providers. The following table gives information about the Company’s common stock that may be issued upon the exercise of options granted to employees, directors and consultants under its 2019 Equity Incentive Plans as of December 31, 2023 which had outstanding grants and remaining unissued shares, taking into account issuance of restricted stock to officers and directors, as follows:
Equity Compensation Plan Information
| Plan category | Number of securities to be issued upon exercise of outstanding options, warrants and rights | Weighted-average exercise price of outstanding options, warrants and rights | Number of securities remaining available for future issuance under equity compensation plans (excluding securities reflected in column (a)) | |||||||||
| (a) | (b) | (c) | ||||||||||
| Equity compensation plans approved by security holders | 10,928 | $ | 232.55 | - | ||||||||
| Equity compensation plans not approved by security holders | - | - | - | |||||||||
| Total | 10,928 | $ | 232.55 | - | ||||||||
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2023 Equity Incentive Plans
On August 10, 2023, the Company adopted the Reliance Global Group, Inc. 2023 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2023 Plan”, and together with the 2019 Plan, the “Plans”). The purpose of the 2023 Plan is to provide a means through which the Company and its subsidiaries may attract and retain key personnel, and to provide a means whereby directors, officer, employees, consultants, and advisors of the Company and its subsidiaries can acquire and maintain an equity interest in the Company, or be paid incentive compensation, thereby strengthening their commitment to the welfare of the Company and its subsidiaries and aligning their interests with those of the Company’s stockholders. There were no options issued under the 2023 Equity Incentive Plan.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities
Date of Transaction | Transaction type (e.g. new issuance, cancellation, shares returned to treasury) and all under Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933 | Number of Securities Issued (or cancelled) (1) | Class of Securities | Value of Securities issued ($/per share) at Issuance | Were the Securities issued at a discount to market price at the time of issuance? (Yes/No) | Individual/ Entity Securities were issued to (entities must have individual with voting / investment control disclosed). | Reason for Securities issuance (e.g. for cash or debt conversion) OR Nature of Services Provided (if applicable) | Restricted or Unrestricted as of this filing? | Exemption or Registration Type? | ||||||||||||||||
| 01/05/2023 | New | 92,771 | (1) | Common | 7.50 | Yes | Altruis Benefits Consulting, Inc. | Acquisition | 4(a)(2) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1/17/2023 | New | 16,587 | (1) | Common | 8.85 | Yes | Joshua Paul Kushnereit | Acquisition | 4(a)(2) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2/13/2023 | New | 66,743 | (1) | Common | 9.664 | No | YES Americana Group, LLC | Conversion | 3(a)(9) | ||||||||||||||||
| 3/16/2023 | New | 155,038 | Common | 3.55 | No | Armistice Capital Master Fund, Ltd. | Cash | 4(a)(2) | |||||||||||||||||
| 3/16/2023 | New | 897,594 | Prefunded (Series E) Warrants exercisable @ $0.001 per share | 3.549 | No | Armistice Capital Master Fund, Ltd. | Cash | 4(a)(2) | |||||||||||||||||
| 3/16/2023 | New | 2,105,264 | Common (Series F) Warrants exercisable @ $3.55 per share | 0.125 | No | Armistice Capital Master Fund, Ltd. | Cash | 4(a)(2) | |||||||||||||||||
| 4/03/2023 | New | 65,000 | Common | 2.63 | No | New To The Street | Services | 4(a)(2) | |||||||||||||||||
| 5/18/2023 | New | 176,130 | Common | 4.07 | No | Jonathan Fortman | Acquisition | 4(a)(2) | |||||||||||||||||
| 5/18/2023 | New | 176,130 | Common | 4.07 | No | Zachary Fortman | Acquisition | 4(a)(2) | |||||||||||||||||
| 6/06/2023 | New | 29,974 | Common | 4.41 | No | Maxim Partners LLC | Services | 4(a)(2) | |||||||||||||||||
| 06/20/2023 | New | 440 | Common | 4.50 | No | Chad Champion | Services | 4(a)(2) | |||||||||||||||||
| 06/20/2023 | New | 13,187 | Common | 4.50 | No | Sandstone Group Corp. | Services | 4(a)(2) | |||||||||||||||||
| 06/20/2023 | New | 3,956 | Common | 4.50 | No | Newbridge Securities Corporation | Services | 4(a)(2) | |||||||||||||||||
| 7/7/2023 | New | 400 | Common | 2.50 | Yes | Bitbean LLC | Services | 4(a)(2) | |||||||||||||||||
| 7/14/2023 | New | 73,264 | Common | 2.50 | Yes | Hudson Bay Master Fund Ltd. | Exercise of Series B warrants | 3(a)(9) | |||||||||||||||||
| 10/11/2023 | New | 174,610 | Common | 2.42 | No | Julie A. Blockey | Acquisition Earn-Out payment | Restricted | 4(a)(2) | ||||||||||||||||
| 12/06/2023 | New | 65,000 | Common | 1.64 | No | New to the Street Group, LLC | Services | Restricted | 4(a)(2) | ||||||||||||||||
| 12/08/2023 | New | 82,645 | Common | 1.21 | No | Outside the Box Capital Inc. | Services | Restricted | 4(a)(2) | ||||||||||||||||
| 12/12/2023 | New | 4,210,528 | Series G Warrants | See footnote(2) | No | Armistice Capital Master Fund, Ltd. | Inducement to exercise Series F Warrants | Restricted | 4(a)(2) | ||||||||||||||||
| 12/15/2023 | New | 300,000 | Common | See footnote(3) | See footnote(3) | Hudson Bay Master Fund Ltd. | Inducement to exchange Series B Warrants | Restricted | 3(a)(9) | ||||||||||||||||
| (1) | Gives effect to a 1:15 reverse stock split effective as of February 23, 2023. |
| (2) | Reflects issuance of Series G Warrants pursuant to Series F Inducement Agreement dated December 12, 2023 exercisable at an exercise price of $0.6562 per share. |
| (3) | Reflects issuance of Common Stock in exchange for 300,000 Series B Warrants pursuant to Exchange Offer of Warrants to Purchase Common Stock and Amendment dated December 12, 2023. |
| 32 |
Use of Proceeds from Registered Securities
Not applicable
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Not applicable.
Item 6. Selected Financial Data
RESERVED
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
Overview
Reliance Global Group, Inc. (formerly known as Ethos Media Network, Inc.) was incorporated in Florida on August 2, 2013. In September 2018, Reliance Global Holdings, LLC, a related party, purchased a controlling interest in the Company. Ethos Media Network, Inc. was renamed Reliance Global Group, Inc. on October 18, 2018.
We operate as a diversified company engaging in business in the insurance market, as well as other related sectors. Our focus is to grow the Company by pursuing an aggressive acquisition strategy, initially and primarily focused upon wholesale and retail insurance agencies. We are led and advised by a management team that offers over 100 years of combined business expertise in real estate, insurance, and the financial service industry.
In the insurance sector, our management has extensive experience acquiring and managing insurance portfolios in several states, as well as developing specialized programs targeting niche markets. Our primary strategy is to identify specific risk to reward arbitrage opportunities and develop these on a national platform, thereby increasing revenues and returns, and then identify and acquire undervalued wholesale and retail insurance agencies with operations in growing or underserved segments, expand and optimize their operations, and achieve asset value appreciation while generating interim cash flows.
As part of our growth and acquisition strategy, we continue to survey the current insurance market for value-add acquisition opportunities. As of December 31, 2023, we have acquired ten insurance agencies, including both affiliated and unaffiliated companies and long term, we seek to conduct all transactions and acquisitions through our direct operations.
Over the next 12 months, we plan to focus on the expansion and growth of our business through continued asset acquisitions in insurance markets and organic growth of our current insurance operations through geographic expansion and market share growth.
Further, we launched our 5MinuteInsure.com (“5MI”) Insurtech platform during 2021 which expanded our national footprint. 5MI is a high-tech proprietary tool developed by us as a business to consumer portal which enables consumers to instantly compare quotes from multiple carriers and purchase their car and home insurance in a time efficient and effective manner. 5MI taps into the growing number of online shoppers and utilizes advanced artificial intelligence and data mining techniques, to provide competitive insurance quotes in around 5 minutes with minimal data input needed from the consumer. The platform launched during the summer of 2021 and currently operates in 46 states offering coverage with more than 30 highly rated insurance carriers.
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With the acquisition of Barra, we launched RELI Exchange, our business-to-business (B2B) InsurTech platform and agency partner network that builds on the artificial intelligence and data mining backbone of 5MinuteInsure.com. Through RELI Exchange we on-board agency partners and provide them an InsurTech platform white labeled, designed and branded specifically for their business. This combines the best of digital and human capabilities by providing our agency partners and their customers quotes from multiple carriers within minutes. Since its inception, RELI Exchange, has increased its agent roster by close to 130%.
Business Operations
We’ve adopted a ‘One-Firm’ strategy, whereby the Reliance owned and operated agencies come together to operate as one cohesive unit which allows for efficient and effective cross-selling, cross-collaboration, and the effective deployment of the Company’s human capital. This strategy also aims to enhance the Company’s overall market presence across the U.S., with all business lines operating under the RELI Exchange brand. It’s expected to benefit agents and clients by improving relationships with carriers, leading to better commission and bonus contracts due to higher business volumes. The approach also strengthens the capability of RELI Exchange agency partners in securing diverse insurance policies and fosters increased cross-selling opportunities. This unified strategy positions the company for rapid scaling and integration of accretive acquisitions, expanding its industry reach.
Business Trends and Uncertainties
The insurance intermediary business is highly competitive, and we actively compete with numerous firms for customers, properties and insurance companies, many of which have relationships with insurance companies, or have a significant presence in niche insurance markets that may give them an advantage over us. Other competitive concerns may include the quality of our products and services, our pricing and the ability of some of our customers to self-insure and the entrance of technology companies into the insurance intermediary business. A number of insurance companies are engaged in the direct sale of insurance, primarily to individuals, and do not pay commissions to agents and brokers.
Financial Instruments
The Company’s financial instruments as of December 31, 2023, consist of derivative warrants. These are accounted at fair value as of inception/issuance date, and at fair value as of each subsequent balance sheet date. Any change in fair value is recorded as non-operating, (non-cash) gain or loss.
Insurance Operations
Our insurance operations focus on the acquisition and management of insurance agencies throughout the U.S. Our primary focus is to pinpoint undervalued wholesale and retail insurance agencies with operations in growing or underserved segments (including healthcare and Medicare, as well as personal and commercial insurance lines). We then focus on expanding their operations on a national platform and improving operational efficiencies in order to achieve asset value appreciation while generating interim cash flows. In the insurance sector, our management team has over 100 years of experiences acquiring and managing insurance portfolios in several states, as well as developing specialized programs targeting niche markets. We plan to accomplish these objectives by acquiring wholesale and retail insurance agencies it deems to represent a good buying opportunity (as opposed to insurance carriers) as insurance agencies bear no insurance risk. Once acquired, we plan to develop them on a national platform to increase revenues and profits through a synergetic structure. The Company is initially focused on segments that are underserved or growing, including healthcare and Medicare, as well as personal and commercial insurance lines.
Revenues
The Company’s revenue is primarily comprised of commission paid by health insurance carriers related to insurance plans that have been purchased by a member who used the Company’s service. The Company defines a member as an individual currently covered by an insurance plan, including individual and family, Medicare-related, small business, and ancillary plans, for which the Company is entitled to receive compensation from an insurance carrier.
Insurance Acquisitions and Strategic Activities
As of the date of this filing, we have acquired nine insurance brokerages (see table below). As we continue to execute on our acquisition strategy, our reach within the insurance industry can provide us with the ability to offer lower rates, which could boost our competitive position within the industry.
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| Acquired | Date | Location | Line of Business | ||||
| U.S. Benefits Alliance, LLC (USBA) | October 24, 2018 | Michigan | Health Insurance | ||||
| Employee Benefit Solutions, LLC (EBS) | October 24, 2018 | Michigan | Health Insurance | ||||
| Commercial Solutions of Insurance Agency, LLC (CCS or Commercial Solutions) | December 1, 2018 | New Jersey | P&C – Trucking Industry | ||||
| Southwestern Montana Insurance Center, Inc. (Southwestern Montana or Montana) | April 1, 2019 | Montana | Group Health Insurance | ||||
| Fortman Insurance Agency, LLC (Fortman or Fortman Insurance) | May 1, 2019 | Ohio | P&C and Health Insurance |
||||
| Altruis Benefits Consultants, Inc. (Altruis) | September 1, 2019 | Michigan | Health Insurance | ||||
| UIS Agency, LLC (UIS) | August 17, 2020 | New York | Health Insurance | ||||
| J.P. Kush and Associates, Inc. (Kush) | May 1, 2021 | Michigan | Health Insurance | ||||
| Barra & Associates, LLC | April 26, 2022 | Illinois | Health Insurance |
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Barra & Associates, LLC Transaction
On April 26, 2022, we entered into an asset purchase agreement (the “APA”) with Barra & Associates, LLC (“Barra”) pursuant to which the Company purchased all of the assets of Barra & Associates, LLC on April 26, 2022 for a purchase price in the amount of $7,725,000 in cash, with $6,000,000 paid to Barra at closing, $1,125,000 payable in nine months from closing, and a final earnout of $600,000 payable over two years from closing based upon meeting stated milestones. The APA contains standard, commercial representations and warranties and covenants. The source of the cash payment was $6,520,000 in funds borrowed from Oak Street Lending (“Loan”), our existing lender pursuant to a Fifth Amendment to Credit Agreement and Promissory Note, of even date. The purchase price is subject to post-closing adjustment to reconcile certain pre-closing credits and liabilities of the parties.
The acquisition of Barra was accounted for as a business combination in accordance with the acquisition method pursuant to FASB Topic No. 805, Business Combination (ASC 805). Accordingly, the total purchase consideration was allocated to the assets acquired, and liabilities assumed based on their respective estimated fair values. The acquisition method of accounting requires, among other things, that assets acquired, and liabilities assumed, if any, in a business purchase combination be recognized at their fair values as of the acquisition date. The process for estimating the fair values of identifiable intangible assets and certain tangible assets requires the use of significant estimates and assumptions, including estimating future cash flows, developing appropriate discount rates, estimating the costs, and timing.
The preliminary allocation of the purchase price in connection with the acquisition of Barra was calculated as follows:
| Description | Fair Value | Weighted Average Useful Life (Years) | ||||||
| Acquired accounts receivable | $ | 92,585 | ||||||
| Property, plant and equipment | 8,593 | 7 | ||||||
| Right-of-use asset | 122,984 | |||||||
| Trade names | 22,000 | 4 | ||||||
| Customer relationships | 550,000 | 10 | ||||||
| Developed technology | 230,000 | 5 | ||||||
| Agency relationships | 2,585,000 | 10 | ||||||
| Lease liability | (122,984 | ) | ||||||
| Goodwill | 4,236,822 | Indefinite | ||||||
| $ | 7,725,000 | |||||||
Goodwill of $4,236,822 arising from the acquisition of Barra consisted of the value of the employee workforce and the residual value after all identifiable intangible assets were valued. Goodwill recognized pursuant to the acquisition of Barra is currently expected to be deductible for income tax purposes. Total acquisition costs incurred through December 31, 2022 for the acquisition of Barra were 72,793 recorded as a component of General and administrative expenses.
| 36 |
Recent Developments
Private Placements
On March 13, 2023, the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement with one institutional buyer for the purchase and sale of, (i) an aggregate of 155,038 shares (the “Common Shares”) of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.086 per share (the “Common Stock”) along with accompanying common warrants (the “Common Units”), (ii) prefunded warrants (the “Prefunded Warrants”) that are exercisable into 897,594 shares of Common Stock (the “Prefunded Warrant Shares”) along with accompanying common warrants (the “Pre-Funded Units”), and (iii) common warrants (the “Common Warrants”) to initially acquire up to 2,105,264 shares of Common Stock (the “Common Warrant Shares”) (representing 200% of the Common Shares and Prefunded Warrant Shares) in a private placement offering (the “Private Placement”). Additionally, the Company agreed to issue a warrant to the Placement Agent (defined below), to initially acquire 52,632 shares of common stock (the “PA Warrant”). The closing of the Private Placement occurred on March 16, 2023.
Nasdaq Notification
On January 12, 2024, the Company received written notice from Nasdaq’s Listing Qualifications Department notifying the Company that for the preceding 30 consecutive business days (November 29, 2023 to January 11, 2024), the Company’s common stock did not maintain a minimum closing bid price of $1.00 per share as required by Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2). The notice has no immediate effect on the listing or trading of the Company’s common stock and the common stock continued to trade on Nasdaq under the symbol “RELI.” In accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A), the Company has a compliance period of 180 calendar days, or until July 10, 2024, to regain compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2).
Stock Splits
On February 23, 2023, pursuant to authority granted by the Board of Directors of the Company, the Company implemented a 1-for-15 reverse split of the Company’s authorized and issued and outstanding common stock (the “Reverse Split-2023”). The par value remains unchanged. All share and per share information as well as common stock and additional paid-in capital have been retroactively adjusted to reflect the Reverse Split-2023 for all periods presented, unless otherwise indicated.
Non-GAAP Measure
The Company believes certain financial measures which meet the definition of non-GAAP financial measures, as defined in Regulation G of the SEC rules, provide important supplemental information. Namely our key financial performance metric Adjusted EBITDA (“AEBITDA”) is a non-GAAP financial measure that is not in accordance with, or an alternative to, measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. “AEBITDA” is defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) with additional adjustments as further outlined below, to result in Adjusted EBITDA (“AEBITDA”). The Company considers AEBITDA an important financial metric because it provides a meaningful financial measure of the quality of the Company’s operational, cash impacted and recurring earnings and operating performance across reporting periods. Other companies may calculate Adjusted EBITDA differently than we do, which might limit its usefulness as a comparative measure to other companies in the industry. AEBITDA is used by management in addition to and in conjunction (and not as a substitute) with the results presented in accordance with GAAP. Management uses AEBITDA to evaluate the Company’s operational performance, including earnings across reporting periods and the merits for implementing cost-cutting measures. We have presented AEBITDA solely as supplemental disclosure because we believe it allows for a more complete analysis of results of operations and assists investors and analysts in comparing our operating performance across reporting periods on a consistent basis by excluding items that we do not believe are indicative of our core operating performance. Consistent with Regulation G, a description of such information is provided below herein and tabular reconciliations of this supplemental non-GAAP financial information to our most comparable GAAP information are contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K under “Results of Operations”.
We exclude the following items, and the following items define our non-GAAP financial measure AEBITDA:
| ● | Interest and related party interest expense: Unrelated to core Company operations and excluded to provide more meaningful supplemental information regarding the Company’s core operational performance. | |
| ● | Depreciation and amortization: Non-cash charge, excluded to provide more meaningful supplemental information regarding the Company’s core operational performance. | |
| ● | Goodwill impairment: Non-cash charge, excluded to provide more meaningful supplemental information regarding the Company’s core operational performance. | |
| ● | Equity-based compensation: Non-cash compensation provided to employees and service providers, excluded to provide more meaningful supplemental information regarding the Company’s core cash impacted operational performance. | |
| ● | Change in estimated acquisition earn-out payables: An Earn-out liability is a liability to the seller upon an acquisition which is contingent on future earnings. These liabilities are valued at each reporting period and the changes are reported as either a gain or loss in the change in estimated acquisition earn-out payables account in the consolidated statements of operations. The gain or loss is non-cash, can be highly volatile and overall is not deemed relevant to ongoing operations, thus, it’s excluded to provide more meaningful supplemental information regarding the Company’s core operational performance. | |
| ● | Recognition and change in fair value of warrant liabilities: This account includes changes to derivative warrant liabilities which are valued at each reporting period and could result in either a gain or loss. The period changes do not impact cash, can be highly volatile, and are unrelated to ongoing operations, and thus are excluded to provide more meaningful supplemental information regarding the Company’s core operational performance. | |
| ● | Other income (expense), net: This account includes non-routine income or expenses and other individually de minimis items and is thus excluded as unrelated to core operations of the company. | |
| ● | Loss from discontinued operations before tax: This account includes the net results from discontinued operations and since discontinued, are unrelated to the Company’s ongoing operations and thus excluded to provide more meaningful supplemental information regarding the Company’s core operational performance. |
Refer to the reconciliation of net (loss) income to AEBITDA, illustrated below in tabular format.
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Results of Operations
Comparison of the year ended December 31, 2023 to the year ended December 31, 2022
The following table sets forth our revenue and expenses for each of the years presented and provides insight into the value and percentage changes:
RELIANCE GLOBAL GROUP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS ANALYTICS
| Year Ended December 31, 2023 | Year Ended December 31, 2022 | $ Change | % Change |
Change Description | ||||||||||||||
| Commission Income | $ | 13,731,826 | $ | 11,761,882 | $ | 1,969,944 | 17 | % | Commission income increase of 17% primarily driven by sustained organic growth (67%) coupled with acquisition related expansion (33%). | |||||||||
| Commission Expense | 3,732,939 | 3,140,725 | 592,214 | 19 | % | Commission expense increase primarily directly correlates to the organic and acquisition related growth in commission income. | ||||||||||||
| Salaries and wages | 7,503,052 | 7,508,312 | (5,260 | ) | 0 | % | Moderate decrease in salaries & wages indicates the ability for the Company to effectively leverage its in place talent (human capital) despite robust increase in top-line revenue. | |||||||||||
| General and administrative (“G&A”) | 4,089,989 | 4,959,151 | (869,162 | ) | -18 | % | Decreased G&A is driven by the Company’s adoption of OneFirm, our strategy to operate leaner and streamline costs across all agencies, coupled with lower acquisition related costs. | |||||||||||
|
Marketing and advertising (“M&A”) |
364,974 | 170,311 | 194,663 | 114 | % | M&A increase is a result of spiked branding and marketing outreach as we continue to rigorously grow our market share. | ||||||||||||
| Change in estimated acquisition earn-out payables | 1,716,873 | 524 | 1,716,349 | 327,548 | % | Estimated acquisition earn-out payables increase due to adjustments of estimated terminal payments and fair value thereof. | ||||||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 2,609,191 | 2,563,518 | 45,673 | 2 | % | Depreciation and amortization increase primarily relates to acquisition related additional fixed tangible and intangible assets. | ||||||||||||
| Goodwill impairment | 7,594,000 | - | 7,594,000 | Goodwill impairment increase reflects the results from our annual impairment test of goodwill. | ||||||||||||||
| Total operating expenses | 27,611,018 | 18,342,541 | ||||||||||||||||
| Loss from operations | (13,879,192 | ) | (6,580,659 | ) | ||||||||||||||
| Other income (expense) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Interest expense | (1,506,186 | ) | (911,106 | ) | (595,080 | ) | 65 | % | Interest expense increase primarily due to overall increased interest rate environment and new acquisition related debt financing. | |||||||||
| Interest related parties | (150,067 | ) | (6,920 | ) | (143,147 | ) | 2,069 | % | Interest related parties increase primarily due to a seller financing note which began accruing interest in 2023. | |||||||||
| Other income (expense), net | 6,530 | (4,341 | ) | 10,871 | -250 | % | Other income (expense) increase primarily due to certain non-recurring and non-significant other income sources. | |||||||||||
| Recognition and change in fair value of warrant liabilities | 5,503,647 | 29,064,958 | (23,561,311 | ) | -81 | % | Decrease in gain due to fair value changes in derivative warrant liabilities carried at fair value. | |||||||||||
| Total other income (expense) | 3,853,924 | 28,142,591 | ||||||||||||||||
| Income (loss) from continuing operations before tax | (10,025,268 | ) | 21,561,932 | |||||||||||||||
| Loss from discontinued operations before tax | (1,984,714 | ) | (15,095,770 | ) | 13,111,056 | -87 | % | Decreased loss primarily stems from a discontinued operations goodwill impairment charge that occurred in 2022. | ||||||||||
| Net (loss) income | $ | (12,009,982 | ) | $ | 6,466,162 | (18,476,144 | ) | |||||||||||
| Non-GAAP Measure | ||||||||||||||||||
| AEBITDA | $ | (686,973 | ) | $ | (2,766,744 | ) | $ | 2,079,771 | -75 | % | AEBITDA loss improves by $2.5 million, or 75%, a result of increased revenues and decreased AEBITDA costs, driven by OneFirm, our strategy to operate leaner and streamline costs across all agencies, coupled with lower acquisition related costs. | |||||||
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Non-GAAP Reconciliation from Net (Loss) Income to AEBITDA
The following table provides a reconciliation from net (loss) income to AEBITDA (adjusted EBITDA) for the years ended December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022.
| December 31, 2023 | December 31, 2022 | |||||||
| Net (loss) income | $ | (12,009,982 | ) | $ | 6,466,162 | |||
| Adjustments: | ||||||||
| Interest and related party interest expense | 1,656,253 | 918,026 | ||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 2,609,191 | 2,563,518 | ||||||
| Goodwill impairment | 7,594,000 | - | ||||||
| Equity-based compensation employees, directors, and service providers | 1,272,155 | 1,249,873 | ||||||
| Change in estimated acquisition earn-out payables | 1,716,873 | 524 | ||||||
| Other (income) expense, net | (6,530 | ) | 4,341 | |||||
| Recognition and change in fair value of warrant liabilities | (5,503,647 | ) | (29,064,958 | ) | ||||
| Loss from discontinued operations before tax | 1,984,714 | 15,095,770 | ||||||
| Total adjustments | 11,323,009 | (9,232,906 | ) | |||||
AEBITDA | $ | (686,973 | ) | $ | (2,766,744 | ) | ||
Liquidity and capital resources
As of December 31, 2023, the Company had a cash balance of approximately $2,739,000, of which approximately $1,410,000 was restricted, and working capital of approximately $1,189,000 compared with a cash balance of approximately $1,910,000, of which approximately $1,404,000 was restricted and a working capital deficit of approximately ($4,576,000) as of December 31, 2022. The 2023 increase in working capital is primarily attributable to increases in current assets stemming from the 17% increase in top line revenue, an equity private placement, cash received from warrant exercises and decreases to current liabilities.
Inflation
The Company generally may be impacted by rising costs for certain inflation-sensitive operating expenses such as labor, employee benefits, and facility leases. The Company believes inflation could have a material impact to pricing and operating expenses in future periods due to the state of the economy and current inflation rates.
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Off-balance sheet arrangements
We do not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as such term is defined in Regulation S-K.
Cash Flows
| Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||
| 2023 | 2022 | |||||||
| Net cash used in operating activities | $ | (847,970 | ) | $ | (3,189,997 | ) | ||
| Net cash provided and used in investing activities | 710,189 | (24,642,312 | ) | |||||
| Net cash provided by financing activities | 966,923 | 25,121,356 | ||||||
| Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash | $ | 829,142 | $ | (2,710,953 | ) | |||
Operating Activities
Net cash used in continuing and discontinued operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2023 was approximately $848,000, compared to approximately $3,190,000 for the year ended December 31, 2022 representing a decrease of cash used in operations of $2,342,000, or 73%. The 2023 cash used comprises an approximate net loss of $12,010,000, continuing non-cash positive adjustments of approximately $7,413,000 and non-cash positive adjustments from discontinued operations of approximately $3,749,000. Continuing non-cash adjustments stem from depreciation and amortization of approximately $2,609,000, goodwill impairment of $7,594,000, amortization of debt issuance costs of approximately $47,000, equity-based compensation for employees, directors, and service providers of approximately $1,272,000, and change in estimated acquisition earn-out payables of approximately 1,717,000, offset by non-cash lease expense of approximately $5,000 and the change in fair value of warrant liability of approximately $5,504,000, as well as changes in net working capital items in the net amount of approximately $317,000.
Investing Activities
Net cash flows provided from continuing and discontinued investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2023, was approximately $710,000 compared to net cash flows used in investing activities of approximately $24,642,000 for the year ended December 31, 2022. The 2023 net cash provided comprises $900,000 in cash proceeds from the sale of the NSURE investment, offset by approximately $190,000 of cash spend for the purchase of property, equipment and intangible assets.
Financing Activities.
Net cash provided from continuing and discontinued financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2023, was approximately $967,000 as compared to $25,121,000 for the year ended December 31, 2022. The 2023 net cash provided primarily comprises cash proceeds from an equity private placement and warrant exercises of approximately $4,475,000, offset by debt principal repayments of approximately $1,091,000, payments net of proceeds on short term financings of approximately $80,000, payments on related party loans and related party convertible debt of approximately $1,900,000, payments on earn-out liabilities of approximately $419,000 and approximately $18,000 of cash used in discontinued financing activities.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
The preparation of financial statements and related disclosures in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues, expenses, and related disclosures. Estimates and judgments are based on historical experience, forecasted events, and various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Estimates and judgments may vary under different assumptions or conditions. We evaluate our estimates and judgments on an ongoing basis. Our management believes the accounting policies below are critical in the portrayal of our financial condition and results of operations and require management’s most difficult, subjective, or complex judgments.
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Business acquisitions: Accounting for acquisitions requires us to estimate the fair value of consideration paid and the individual assets and liabilities acquired, which involves a number of judgments, assumptions, and estimates that could materially affect the amount and timing of costs recognized in subsequent periods. Accounting for acquisitions can also involve significant judgment to determine when control of the acquired entity is transferred. We typically obtain independent third-party valuation studies to assist in determining fair values, including assistance in determining future cash flows, discount rates, and comparable market values. Items involving significant assumptions, estimates, and judgments include the following:
| ● | Debt, including discount rate and timing of payments; | |
| ● | Deferred tax assets, including projections of future taxable income and tax rates; | |
| ● | Fair value of consideration paid or transferred; | |
| ● | Intangible assets, including valuation methodology, estimations of future revenue and costs, and discount rates; |
Contingencies: We are subject to the possibility of losses from various contingencies. Significant judgment is necessary to estimate the probability and amount of a loss, if any, from such contingencies. An accrual is made when it is probable that a liability has been incurred or an asset has been impaired, and the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated. In accounting for the resolution of contingencies, significant judgment may be necessary to estimate amounts pertaining to periods prior to the resolution that are charged to operations in the period of resolution and amounts related to future periods.
Goodwill and intangible assets: We test goodwill for impairment in our fourth quarter each year, or more frequently if indicators of an impairment exist, to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit with goodwill is less than its carrying value. For reporting units for which this assessment concludes that it is more likely than not that the fair value is more than its carrying value, goodwill is considered not impaired and we are not required to perform the goodwill impairment test. Qualitative factors considered in this assessment include industry and market considerations, overall financial performance, and other relevant events and factors affecting the fair value of the reporting unit. For reporting units for which this assessment concludes that it is more likely than not that the fair value is below the carrying value, goodwill is tested for impairment by determining the fair value of each reporting unit and comparing it to the carrying value of the net assets assigned to the reporting unit. If the fair value of the reporting unit exceeds its carrying value, goodwill is considered not impaired. If the carrying value of the reporting unit exceeds its fair value, we would record an impairment loss up to the difference between the carrying value and implied fair value.
Determining when to test for impairment, the reporting units, the assets and liabilities of the reporting unit, and the fair value of the reporting unit requires significant judgment and involves the use of significant estimates and assumptions. These estimates and assumptions include revenue growth rates, and expenses and are developed as part of our long-range planning process. The same estimates are used in business planning, forecasting, and capital budgeting. We test the reasonableness of the output of our long-range planning process by calculating an implied value per share and comparing that to current stock prices, analysts’ consensus pricing, and management’s expectations. These estimates and assumptions are used to calculate projected future cash flows for the reporting unit, which are discounted using a risk-adjusted rate to estimate a fair value. The discount rate requires determination of appropriate market comparables. We base fair value estimates on assumptions we believe to be reasonable but that are unpredictable and inherently uncertain. Actual future results may differ from those estimates.
We test other identified intangible assets with definite useful lives when events and circumstances indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable by comparing the carrying amount to the sum of undiscounted cash flows expected to be generated by the asset. We test intangible assets with indefinite lives annually for impairment using a fair value method such as discounted cash flows. Estimating fair values involves significant assumptions, including future sales prices, sales volumes, costs, and discount rates.
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Income taxes: We are required to estimate our provision for income taxes and amounts ultimately payable or recoverable in numerous tax jurisdictions around the world. These estimates involve significant judgment and interpretations of regulations and are inherently complex. Resolution of income tax treatments in individual jurisdictions may not be known for many years after completion of the applicable year. We are also required to evaluate the realizability of our deferred tax assets on an ongoing basis in accordance with U.S. GAAP, which requires the assessment of our performance and other relevant factors. Realization of deferred tax assets is dependent on our ability to generate future taxable income. In recent periods, our results of operations have benefited from increases in the amount of deferred taxes we expect to realize, primarily from the levels of capital spending and increases in the amount of taxable income we expect to realize. Our income tax provision or benefit is dependent, in part, on our ability to forecast future taxable income in these and other jurisdictions. Such forecasts are inherently difficult and involve significant judgments including, among others, projecting future average selling prices and sales volumes, manufacturing and overhead costs, levels of capital spending, and other factors that significantly impact our analyses of the amount of net deferred tax assets that are more likely than not to be realized.
Revenue recognition: All commission revenue is recorded net of any deductions for estimated commission adjustments due to lapses, policy cancellations, and revisions in coverage.
The Company earns additional revenue including contingent commissions, profit-sharing, override and bonuses based on meeting certain revenue or profit targets established periodically by the carriers (collectively the Contingent Commissions). The Contingent Commissions are earned when the Company achieves the targets established by the insurance carries. The insurance carriers notify the company when it has achieved the target. The Company only recognizes revenue to the extent that it is probable that a significant reversal of the revenue will not occur.
Equity-based compensation: Equity-based compensation is estimated at the grant date based on the fair value of the award and is recognized as expense using the straight-line amortization method over the requisite service period. For performance-based stock awards, the expense recognized is dependent on our assessment of the likelihood of the performance measure being achieved. We utilize forecasts of future performance to assess these probabilities and this assessment requires significant judgment.
Determining the appropriate fair-value model and calculating the fair value of stock-based awards at the grant date requires significant judgment, including estimating stock price volatility and expected option life. We develop these estimates based on historical data and market information which can change significantly over time. A small change in the estimates used can result in a relatively large change in the estimated valuation. We use the Black-Scholes option valuation model to value employee stock options and awards granted under our employee stock purchase plan. We estimate stock price volatility based on our historical volatility implied volatility derived from traded options on our stock.
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosure about Market Risk
Not applicable.
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
See the financial statements filed as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K as listed under Item 15 below.
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Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
Not Applicable.
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures
Controls and Procedure Requirements
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Disclosure controls are procedures that are designed with the objective of ensuring that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed under the Exchange Act, such as this annual report, is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time period specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls are also designed with the objective of ensuring that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including the chief executive officer and chief financial officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
We do not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures will prevent all errors and all instances of fraud. Disclosure controls and procedures, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the disclosure controls and procedures are met. Further, the design of disclosure controls and procedures must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all disclosure controls and procedures, no evaluation of disclosure controls and procedures can provide absolute assurance that we have detected all our control deficiencies and instances of fraud, if any. The design of disclosure controls and procedures also is based partly on certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions.
Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as defined under Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 14d-14(f). Our internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
All internal control systems, no matter how well designed, have inherent limitations and may not prevent or detect misstatements. Therefore, even those systems determined to be effective can only provide reasonable assurance with respect to financial reporting reliability and financial statement preparation and presentation. In addition, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to risk that controls become inadequate because of changes in conditions and that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
The Company determined it has a material weakness in its disclosure controls and procedures relating to goodwill and earnings per share (“EPS”). The Company continues the process of mitigating the deficiencies by ensuring it is appropriately consulting with experts in the respective areas. During fiscal year 2023, Our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2023, and concluded that they were not effective as of December 31, 2023, due to the material weakness identified.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
During fiscal year 2022, the Company retained subject matter expert advisors to prepare the accounting and disclosures over Earnings per Share. These advisors assisted the Company in the calculations and disclosures of EPS for the year ended December 31, 2023. Aside for the foregoing, there have been no other changes in our internal control over financial reporting, as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act, during our most recently completed fiscal quarter which is the subject of this report that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
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Item 9B. Other Information
None.
Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections
Not applicable.
PART III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
Listed below are the names of the directors and executive officers of the Company, their ages as of the date of this Form 10-K, their positions held, and all commenced service with the Company in 2023.
| Name | Age | Position(s) Held | ||
| Ezra Beyman | 69 | Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman of the Board of Directors | ||
| Joel Markovits | 43 | Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Chief Accounting Officer (CAO), Financial Reporting Manager (FRM) | ||
| Yaakov Beyman | 41 | Executive Vice President, Insurance Division | ||
| Scott Korman | 69 | Director and Chair of the Audit Committee (Audit Committee Financial Expert), and Member of the Compensation and Nominating and Governance Committees | ||
| Ben Fruchtzweig | 59 | Director and Chair of the Compensation Committee and Member of the Audit and Nominating and Governance Committees | ||
| Sheldon Brickman | 58 | Director and Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee and Member of the Audit and Compensation Committees | ||
| Alex Blumenfrucht | 35 | Director and former Chief Financial Officer |
Ezra Beyman:
Director of Reliance Global Group, Inc.
2018 – Present: Chief Executive Officer of Reliance Global Group, Inc.
1985- Present: Chairman of Reliance Global Holdings, LLC and Affiliates
Ezra Beyman has served as the Chairman of our Board of Directors and our Chief Executive Officer since 2018. Mr. Beyman is the central force leading the success and growth of Reliance Global Group, Inc. Drawing on his nearly three decades of entrepreneurial experience in real estate and ten years in insurance, he has set his vision and acuity on one integrated goal: integrity and success. At one point in time Mr. Beyman’s portfolio of commercial and residential properties comprised of approximately 40,000 units, as well as several insurance agencies. In 1985, he founded a small mortgage brokerage, together with his wife, which he operated in his basement. From there, his company rapidly grew into a dynamic force on the market. By 2008, he owned the third largest licensed mortgage brokerage in the U.S., having acquired numerous mortgage companies in the interim. He also expanded to real estate acquisition, having grown his portfolio to over three billion dollars. In expanding his investments, Mr. Beyman began exploring opportunities in other markets, acquiring several insurance agencies in both Florida and New Jersey. His ventures included entering the domains of warrantee and insurance carriers. Raised in the New York metropolitan area, Mr. Beyman spent his secondary and post-secondary school years at Mesivta Tifereth Yerushalayim, where he advanced his analytic abilities while mastering various areas of Talmudic studies, earning a position as one of the closest students of the Dean. He earned his First Talmudic degree in 1975.
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Joel Markovits:
2021 – Present: Chief Financial Officer of Reliance Global Group, Inc.
2015 – 2021: KPMG Audit Senior Manager
Joel Markovits, Chief Financial Officer, joined the Company in June 2021 as our SEC financial reporting manager, and in February 2022 was appointed Chief Accounting Officer (CAO) and subsequently appointed CFO as of January 1, 2023. Joel brings over 12 years’ financial, accounting and reporting experience in both the public and private sectors. Prior to joining Reliance Global Group, Joel was a senior manager at KPMG LLP from April 2015 through May 2021, where he led some of the larger and more complex audit engagements, including serving as lead audit senior manager on a global $16 billion (annual revenues) enterprise reporting on both US GAAP and IFRS. He was also a data & analytics specialist and technology innovation leader at KPMG for its largest US Business Unit, overseeing the development and deployment of technological capabilities that enhance data analyses. Joel is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of New Jersey since November 2013.
Yaakov Beyman:
2018 – Present: Executive VP of Insurance Division, Reliance Global Group, Inc.
2012 – 2018: Executive VP of Insurance Division, Empire Insurance Holdings
Yaakov Beyman, son of Mr. Ezra Beyman has served as the Executive Vice President of the Insurance Divisions since July 2018. Mr. Beyman oversees the insurance operations of Reliance Global Group, Inc. From December 2012 – July 2018, he was Executive VP of Insurance Division, of Empire Insurance Holdings. He works from a platform that includes both strategizing the future vision of the insurance division and developing and implementing operational tools on a more granular level to grow the various insurance businesses. In his role as a strategist, Mr. Beyman has mapped a clear future: expand the various insurance products that RELI offers both geographically and in category. On the more hands-on level, Mr. Beyman (who holds insurance licenses in most of the continental U.S.) is heavily involved in marketing, maintaining state of the art technological models, financial management and distribution, and entity creation and maintenance. Combining his roles as the idea-generator and implementer, he is well-equipped to take the lead role in growing the Company.”
Scott Korman:
Director – Joined Board in 2019
1984 – Present: President of Nashone, Inc
2019 – Present: CEO, Illumina Radiopharmaceuticals LLC
Mr. Korman has served on our board of directors since December 2019 and he currently serves as President of Nashone, Inc., a private equity firm, which he founded in 1984. In this role, Mr. Korman is involved in financial advisory, M&A, and general management assignments. He is a founder and Managing Member and CEO of Innervate Radiopharmaceuticals LLC since May 2019, CEO of Sentry Laboratories LLC since February 2020 and CFO and board member of Adenocyte LLC since 2018. Mr. Korman previously served as Chairman and CEO of Best Manufacturing Group LLC, a leading manufacturer and distributor of uniforms, napery, service apparel, and hospitality and healthcare textiles. Mr. Korman also served as President and CEO of Welsh Farms Inc., a full-service dairy processor and distributor of milk, ice cream mix and ice cream products. Mr. Korman received a B.S. degree in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School. He has served as a member of the Board of Directors of Tofutti Brands, Inc. since December 2011. He also serves on the boards of various not-for-profit groups. The Board determined that Mr. Korman’s business experience makes him an ideal director for the Company.
Ben Fruchtzweig:
Joined Board in 2019
2013 – Current: Mosdos Beis Abba
Mr. Fruchtzweig has served on our board of directors since December 2019 and brings decades of executive experience in accounting and financial services. He currently serves on the board of Mosdos Beis Abba since June 2013. He has served as Chief Comptroller/Financial Analyst at national financial services and investment companies. He received his NYS C.P.A. license in 1987 and has worked at Deloitte Haskins and Sells and other leading accounting firms. Currently, Mr. Fruchtzweig lectures on a variety of topics including business ethics. He also serves on a voluntary basis as a trustee of a non-profit private foundation, which serves to provide the needed financial support, services and guidance to qualifying individuals and families. Mr. Fruchtzweig graduated Magna Cum Laude from Queens College/C.U.N.Y. in June 1985. The Board believes that Mr. Fruchtzweig’s strong accounting and finance background makes him a strong director.
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Sheldon Brickman:
Joined Board in 2020
2013 – Present: President of Rockshore Advisors LLC
Mr. Brickman has served on our board of directors since August 2020 and has been President of Rockshore Advisors LLC since May, 2013. Sheldon has over 25 years of M&A advisory and business development experience, totaling more than $40 billion in deal value. Additionally, he has served as Chief Financial Officer of InfinT Acquisition Corporation since May 2021. Sheldon has worked for numerous multibillion-dollar insurance carriers, including assignments for such companies as AIG, Aetna and National General. He has assisted international companies (in the UAE, UK, Asia and Latin America), start-up operations, and regional insurance carriers. Mr. Brickman’s experience covers the property casualty and life/health markets, including working with insurance carriers, managing general agencies, wholesalers, retailers and third-party administrators. The Board determined that Mr. Brickman’s M&A and insurance industry experience makes him an ideal director for the Company.
Alex Blumenfrucht:
Director of Reliance Global Group, Inc.
2018 – 2022: Former CFO of Reliance Global Group, Inc.
2015 – 2018: Audit senior at Deloitte and Touché.
Alex Blumenfrucht has served as member of our board of directors since 2018 and formerly also served as our Chief Financial Officer (CFO) from 2018 until June 2022, at which time he resigned and accepted employment with an unaffiliated company. Prior to joining Reliance, Mr. Blumenfrucht served as an Audit & Assurance Professional at Deloitte & Touché, LLP from September 2015 until May 2018, where he successfully led audit teams on both public and privately held corporations. The Board determined that Mr. Blumenfrucht’s extensive experience in internal control, financial analysis, and reporting for both private and publicly traded companies is central to the Company’s management of finances, reporting, and controls and makes him an ideal director.
William Lebovics:
2022 Former CFO of Reliance Global Group, Inc.
2019 – 2021: Director of Business Development at IDT Corporation
William Lebovics was appointed by the Company to serve as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) effective June 1, 2022 and as of January 1, 2023 transitioned from CFO into the role of Senior Vice President of Acquisitions. Prior to joining the Company, William served as Head of Business Development at IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT), from November 2021- May 2022, where he worked closely with Chairman Howard Jonas on two new lines of business for the company. From January 2019- November 2021, William served as Finance Manager of IDW Media Holdings (NYSE: IDW) where he was responsible for dealing with financial reporting, financing, and M&A, as well as other finance related operations. From 2016-2018, Mr. Lebovics was Partner and Product Owner of a mobile tech company overseen by T5 Capital. William has extensive corporate finance experience, including prior roles as a Portfolio Manager of Alternative Investments at Nippon Life Global Investors and as a Real Estate Consultant in PwC’s Real Assets Group. William has an MS in Accounting from Fairleigh Dickenson University, an MS in Real Estate with a concentration in Finance and Investment from NYU, and a BS in Business Management from Touro College.
Family Relationships
There are no arrangements between our directors and any other person pursuant to which our directors were nominated or elected for their positions. Except for Ezra Beyman and Yaakov Beyman (father and son), there are no family relationships between any of our directors or executive officers.
Committees of the Board of Directors
Our Board has established three standing committees: an Audit Committee, a Nominating and Governance Committee and a Compensation Committee, which are described below. Members of these committees are elected annually at a regular meeting of the Board of Directors held in conjunction with the annual stockholders’ meeting. The charter of each committee is available on our website at www.relianceglobalgroup.com, and our committee appointments are set forth above.
Audit Committee
The Audit Committee has authority to review our financial records, deal with our independent auditors, recommend to the Board policies with respect to financial reporting, and investigate all aspects of our business. All of the members of the Audit Committee currently satisfy the independence requirements and other established criteria of NASDAQ.
The Audit Committee has sole authority for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of our independent registered public accounting firm, and responsibility for reviewing and discussing with management and our independent registered public accounting firm our audited consolidated financial statements included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, our interim financial statements and our earnings press releases. The Audit Committee also reviews the independence and quality control procedures of our independent registered public accounting firm, reviews management’s assessment of the effectiveness of internal controls, discusses with management the Company’s policies with respect to risk assessment and risk management and will review the adequacy of the Audit Committee charter on an annual basis.
Scott Korman, Ben Fruchtzweig and Sheldon Brickman who are all independent directors and sit on this Committee, with Scott Korman being the Chair and Audit Committee Financial Expert.
Nominating and Governance Committee
The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee has the following responsibilities: (a) setting qualification standards for director nominees; (b) identifying, considering and nominating candidates for membership on the Board; (c) developing, recommending and evaluating corporate governance standards and a code of business conduct and ethics applicable to the Company; (d) implementing and overseeing a process for evaluating the Board, Board committees (including the Committee) and overseeing the Board’s evaluation of the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company; (e) making recommendations regarding the structure and composition of the Board and Board committees; (f) advising the Board on corporate governance matters and any related matters required by the federal securities laws; and (g) assisting the Board in identifying individuals qualified to become Board members; recommending to the Board the director nominees for the next annual meeting of shareholders; and recommending to the Board director nominees to fill vacancies on the Board.
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The Nominating and Governance Committee determines the qualifications, qualities, skills, and other expertise required to be a director and to develop, and recommend to the Board for its approval, criteria to be considered in selecting nominees for director (the “Director Criteria”); identifies and screens individuals qualified to become members of the Board, consistent with the Director Criteria. The Nominating and Governance Committee considers any director candidates recommended by the Company’s shareholders pursuant to the procedures described in the Company’s proxy statement, and any nominations of director candidates validly made by shareholders in accordance with applicable laws, rules and regulations and the provisions of the Company’s charter documents. The Nominating and Governance Committee makes recommendations to the Board regarding the selection and approval of the nominees for director to be submitted to a shareholder vote at the Annual Meeting of shareholders, subject to approval by the Board. The Nominating and Governance Committee does not have a set policy or process for considering diversity in identifying nominees but strives to identity and recruit nominees with a broad diversity of experience, talents, professions, backgrounds, perspective, age, gender, ethnicity and country of citizenship, and who possess the commitment necessary to make a significant contribution to the Company. Board nominees should be committed to enhancing long-term stockholder value and should possess high standards of integrity and ethical behavior.
Scott Korman, Ben Fruchtzweig and Sheldon Brickman sit on this Committee with Sheldon Brickman being the Chair.
Compensation Committee
The Compensation Committee oversees our executive compensation and recommends various incentives for key employees to encourage, and reward increased corporate financial performance, productivity and innovation.